Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Redemption and Revival
by RLYoshi
Summary: A Shinx named Sparky wakes up with no memory of his past, except for his name and an odd symbol he can't get out of his head. With the help of his new Vulpix friend, Ember, he forms an exploration team at Bibarel's Guild in hopes it will lead him to discovering his past. **Collab with my friend Rhino. Based somewhat off Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, but with original ideas.**
1. Prologue

"...gotta keep running...if they catch me, it's over...kept it going too long to let it end like this..."

…

"How deep is this cave?! There should be a way out somewhere..."

…

"Crap! A dead end! Now what?!"

"_Hehehe..."_

"Huh? Who's there?!"

"_Me? I am the Pokémon who resides within this cavern...you have travelled quite a ways to find me."_

"Yeah, no. I didn't come here looking for anything except a way out."

…

"_A way out, you say?"_

"Yeah. How do I get out of here?"

"_If by 'here' you are referring to this cavern...the only way out is the way you came."_

"Gah...Arceus dangit...that's not gonna work. Officer Magnezone's coming down for me right now..."

"_However..."_

…

"_If by 'here', you mean the life you have chosen for yourself...perhaps I can offer a solution."_

"What are you going on about now?"

"_Hehehe...tell me, wanderer...do you want me to help you escape?"_

"Escape? Of course I want to escape! If they catch me..."

"_Then escape you shall..."_

"Huh?"

_FLASH_


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting in the Forest

_**A**__**uthor's**__** Note:**_** Here's the first actual chapter. The prologue was just to set up something for later. And don't worry if you don't recognize any of the locations in this story; it may be based off of _Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky_, but we've written it as taking place in its own location several years after the events of that game. There will be some continuity nods and the idea will generally be the same, but the storyline is going to be different, and thus, so will the locations and Pokémon.**

**Now, on with the story!**

* * *

The wind blows across the plains, caressing all in its path as it journeys. A Vulpix looks up, smelling the breeze as she sees the unusual black tips of her otherwise normal red mane blow. Smelling nothing interesting, she shrugs, looking back down at her find.

Smiling, she speaks to herself, no one else around to judge her for it. "I can't believe my luck today!" She leans down, picking another bunch of oran berries from the collection of small plants and stowing them in her bag. "I might be set for a couple of weeks at this rate."

Giggling to herself, she checks the sun to make sure she has plenty of time before looking around again. "I wonder what else I can find today… maybe I'll find a treasure chest of legendary loot in a tree." Sticking out her tongue, the Pokémon laughs. "Yeah right, like that happens. Let's focus on real things." She bounds through the grass, her six tails, also black-tipped, bouncing along behind her.

The field which she is in doesn't appear to be much at first, but Pokémon who come out frequently know of particular trees and bushes that happen to produce rather helpful berries and herbs. While most would prefer to simply buy them from the store in town so as to avoid the hassle of searching for the berries, not to mention telling them apart from more dangerous lookalikes, there are still some who prefer to go out and search for them.

The town to the Vulpix's back is, from a distance, just another village with small houses and buildings constructed for various purposes, but its residents know the layout like the back of their respective hands, paws, claws, or other appendages. The field is just to the east of it, and if one were to go further east through a small but thick forest, they'd find themselves at the side of a large mountain. Nobody had ever tried climbing it before, because they already knew what was past it: the ocean. And nothing else of interest to see unless you were traveling across it.

She runs over the fields and into the forest, eyes scanning upward for treasure… realistically more like apples instead of chests. Stopping for a moment, the vulpine pokemon rears up, planting her forelegs on a tree trunk as she looks upward. "No… nothing." Shaking her head, she pushes off the tree and continues. "Shame, toasted apples are great." Looking ahead of her, she ponders this for a moment. "Hmm… might be worth going farther…" Doing just that, she journeys further into the forest.

The more she wanders into the forest, the closer together the trees seem to get, and the harder it becomes to tell direction. Luckily, no Pokémon live in this forest aside from a few docile Bug-types, but the possibility of getting lost is no less scary.

"Come on… just let me find a darn apple already…" the Pokémon mutters to herself as she continues wandering, eyes glued to the leafy canopy above her. She tries not to think too much about the bits of color starting to appear in the sky, signaling the beginning of sunset.

Suddenly, the leaf canopy all but disappears as she exits out from under it, almost running directly into the side of the mountain.

She stops, staring up at the sudden wall of earth and stone. "Didn't think I was this far… great…" Huffing a sigh, she looks around, trying to get her bearings, only to have her attention caught by something else. Seeing the slumped form of a Pokémon against the mountain, she darts toward it, recognizing it as a Shinx as she gets closer. Concern and curiosity are mixed in her grey eyes as she stops just before it, putting a paw on a blue shoulder and pushing lightly. "Hey, you okay?"

At first, the Shinx appears to be completely unmoving, almost not breathing. However, after a few seconds, its tail twitches, and the rest of its body begins to stir. Its ears flick, its forelegs begin to move, and finally, its yellow eyes start to flutter open. A soft, questioning mumble escapes its mouth.

Seeing him move, the Vulpix smiles. "Good, you're awake. What happened to you? This isn't exactly the place to be sleeping."

For a moment, the Shinx doesn't seem to understand her, only staring blankly with its - his - eyes still half-closed. Soon, though, something seems to click in his brain, and he blinks his eyes fully open before looking around, standing up on shaky legs. "Huh…? Where am I?"

"A mountain just outside Auraville," she answers simply. "I take it… not where you remember being?"

"I..." He pauses, thinking back, only to groan and put a paw to his forehead. "I don't know..."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know?" Crouching down, she tries to get a better look at him. "Did you hit your head?"

The Shinx shakes his head. "I don't think so...my head doesn't hurt..." Sure enough, he physically appears just fine overall, with no noticeable bumps or injuries.

"Okay, so…" The Vulpix scratches her head. "Is it just because you're waking up? Do you know what happened to you?"

"Um..." He concentrates, his eyes squinting almost as though he's trying to look at something far away. "N-No...I can't remember anything from before waking up just now...it's just all a blur..."

"Uh oh…" She frowns, realizing this is definitely not as simple as just helping someone back to town when they got lost or hurt. "Not even a name?"

He stops his squinting, this fact seeming to come to him unlike everything else. "My name...it's Sparky..." He sighs in apparent relief at knowing at least this much.

Holding out a paw with a pad that shows travel, but fur that shows grooming, she speaks. "Mine is Ember, nice to meet you."

Sparky takes the paw with his own, slowly shaking it as though doing this for the first time. "Th-thank you..." He glances up at her, actually taking in her appearance for the first time...and suddenly cringes, grunting in pain as he retracts his paw and presses it to his temple.

Her eyes widen in alarm. Quickly rummaging through her bag, she withdraws a plump blue berry, offering it to him. "Here, this might help."

Slowly, the Shinx takes the berry from her and bites into it, relaxing as the headache gradually fades. "Thanks...I don't know what..." When he glances up at her again, he blinks, then shuts his eyes. "...huh…?"

"Hey, what's going on?" Ember puts her paw on his shoulder again. "I can't help you if I don't know."

He opens his eyes again, this time showing more confusion than worry. "I keep...seeing something..." He rubs his head again, but doesn't appear to be in pain. "It won't go away..."

"What do you see?" she asks, worried.

"It's...hard to describe," he replies with a sigh. Glancing down at the soft patch of dirt beneath their paws, he starts looking around. "Maybe I can draw it...is there a stick somewhere?"

"Probably, one second." She looks back towards the forest and quickly darts over, bringing back a stick in her mouth. "Mmph!"

Sparky smiles for the first time and takes the stick from her between his own teeth, mumbling a somewhat incoherent "thank you" out around the wood. Looking down, he puts the stick to the dirt and closes his eyes, staying still for a moment before opening them again and starting to sketch an odd design into the earth.

The top half of the symbol he draws looks similar to the tuft of hair on Ember's head; three thick curls, with a small outline beneath it that looks almost like upside-down fire. Around this, he draws a rough circle, and then a line going down from the circle that branches off to the right, forming an L-shape that comes to an abrupt stop.

The Shinx spits the stick out. "It's...sort of like that."

Tilting her head at the sketch, Ember look at it a few seconds before stating bluntly. "I have no idea what that is. If it's all you remember, maybe it's important, though."

"I don't know..." He sighs, sitting down and staring at the sketch morosely. "I remember it, but it means nothing to me...I remember my name, but even that's not very helpful...and that's all I have." He groans.

"Hey," she nudges him with her head, "at least you've got that. Maybe you can find the rest out… or just make it from scratch." A look upwards reveals an orange sky, indicating the lateness.

"Maybe..." He looks up as well, noticing the same thing. "But the sun's already setting...I don't even know exactly where I am, let alone where I can stay that's safe..."

She motions to where she had retrieved the stick. "It's nowhere near a proper bed, but the forest is pretty safe. All we do is find under a tree that will stay dry and we'll be fine." Her muzzle wrinkles. "Did not bring a single thing to make that more comfortable… wasn't expecting to camp."

"Well, I'll be fine in that sense, at least...not like I have any memory of a more comfortable place to sleep." Sparky lets out a small laugh at that, starting to cheer up a bit. "You don't have to stay with me, though..."

"No, I don't, but I will." She slowly starts heading towards the trees, waiting for him. "I'm not just gonna leave you when you need help."

Surprised, it takes the Electric-type a moment before he stands up and follows her. "Okay then...thank you, Ember." He smiles gratefully.

"Not a problem, Sparky." She smiles back. "Don't worry; if we can't get you to remember anything… well, you just made your first friend. I think that's a pretty good start."

He blinks at this, his smile faltering for a moment as he looks confused, but it comes back quickly. "First friend...yeah, I'd say it is." He chuckles.

The little fire fox leads him a short distance into the woods before nodding and stopping. Putting her paws to work, she starts sweeping leaves off the ground around them, leaving only grass and dirt. The area quickly expands as she works, eventually having a nice leafless spot for them. She turns to him, opening her mouth to ask a question before a leaf she had cleared too quickly floats down, landing on her nose. Her face scrunches oddly for a moment before she suddenly sneezes, a short jet of flame coming out of her mouth as she does so, incinerating the leaf.

Sparky jumps at this, quickly backing up a couple of steps before seeing that the shot of flame was harmless to him at this distance. He snickers. "Bless you."

Wiping her muzzle, her face slightly darkens from a blush. "Thank you. Anyway, what I was going to ask is if you want a fire. I don't really need one myself, but I figured I'd offer before we settle down."

"Fire...yeah, that'd probably be a good idea," he agrees, nodding. "Though...please warn me before you light it so I can get out of the way?"

She giggles, her six tails wagging as she smiles. "What? You don't think I'd burn you… do you?"

"Maybe not on purpose, but you _did_ just accidentally sneeze a leaf into cinders," the Shinx points out with a smile of his own.

"Fair point. Help me gather sticks then." She doubts they'll find anything softer than the grass, so she also uses this time to resolve herself to where they'll be sleeping.

Nodding, Sparky begins to search the ground for any sticks similar to the one he had drawn with earlier, but without straying too far from his new friend. After a few minutes, he is able to gather a small pile, which he deposits in the middle of their little circle. "Is that enough?"

She comes in with her own pile, setting part of it on his and the rest nearby. "I think so, though this is your warning that I'm about to light it."

"Right." He backs away from the sticks, moving to the side so he isn't too close to nor directly across from the Fire-type. "I think this should be safe..."

"Good." She swallows, bringing up some of the natural fire of her kind. Her mouth opens and she quickly spits a ball of embers at the pile, lodging it inside as the sticks already start to crackle. "Easy." She smiles at her work, looking over to the thickest patch of grass. Going over to it, she spins once on the spot before laying down and settling, her tails making a nice covering for everything below her shoulders.

Following her example, Sparky approaches the spot she had selected and lies down beside her, in between the Vulpix and the fire. Though he lacks a large enough tail to cover himself like a blanket, he hopes the fire will provide enough heat to make the night bearable.

Ember closes her eyes, time passing unfelt around her before a sound causes her to open her eyes again. Blinking, she sees the blue and black form of her new friend shaking, all the sticks on the fire having gone down to warm remnants. Thinking for a second, she silently giggles before getting up, taking the few steps over to him, and laying back down against him, her tail partially curling around them both as her inner fire warms them. "Better?"

Sparky, for his part, is rather surprised from the close contact and almost pushes away. However, the comfortable warmth is enough to keep him from jumping up, and he instead squirms in a little closer. "Much better...thank you..."

"Don't expect this every night," she warns playfully, closing her eyes. "Only when you're cold."

Chuckling, the Shinx nods, closing his eyes as well. "I'll try to remember that..."


	3. Chapter 2: Bug's Nest

_**Author's Note:**_**Going to aim for about a chapter a week, with no specific release date. Don't hold us to that, though. Chapters might get updated more frequently or less frequently depending on current events.**

* * *

Ember slowly comes back into consciousness, nuzzling her comfy blanket as it rests against her. This makes a part of her mind confused. Wait… she didn't go to sleep at home, why would her blanket be here? Her eyes open to find not a blanket, but a Pokémon up against her. Stiffening, she opens her mouth, baring her teeth as a fire starts to build in her throat.

Suddenly the events of the previous evening come back to her and she quickly shuts her mouth. A bit of smoke comes from her nostrils as she looks to Sparky, glad she remembered him. Raising her head, she peers into the sky, noting that morning has well and truly come. She puts a paw on his back and, idly noting the Shinx's blue fur is far less coarse than his black, she pushes him lightly. "Hey, wake up."

Sparky reacts immediately to the nudging, though not in the expected way. Rather than instantly waking up, he just squirms a little and yawns before flipping over in his slightly disturbed sleep, now facing the Vulpix with his eyes still closed. Despite her attempt to wake him, he still seems to be resting peacefully, the only hint that he had begun to stir being his changed position.

At their closeness, Ember scoots away, tails coming off them both. "Silly hard sleeper…" Shaking her head, she stands up, shaking herself off a moment and thinking about a nice bath before nudging him again, this time a little harder and with her head. "Wakey wakey."

This time, it has the desired effect. The Shinx slowly starts to stir again, yawning and stretching his body as he returns to consciousness. His eyes slowly open, taking in the scene. "...what happened?"

"Nothing big this time, we just slept." She smiles at him. "Sleep well?"

He rubs at his eyes with a paw. "Well...I had a weird nightmare that I was being chased by robots, but I'm well-rested, so...I guess it was average?" He glances down and notices one side of his body covered in dirt and grass stains. "...ew."

"Good old camping, huh?" She wears an expression similar to his as she flicks her tails forward, picking out bits of leaf and twig with her mouth. "At least we can head back to town today."

"I don't think this is the best first impression of me they'd be able to get," the Shinx points out, trying futilely to brush the dirt off his fur. "Plus, this stuff feels...really weird."

"Might be you being an Electric-type." She tries as best she can to clean herself off too, her tail ending up a bit in need of a brush, but otherwise fine. Her coat still has a small layer of dust, though. "Don't worry, we can get nice and clean in town, or maybe earlier if we find a stream."

Nodding, Sparky looks around at their surroundings, noting that nothing seems to have changed since they fell asleep, aside from the sun rising. "Hopefully we find one on the way to town." He gives up on trying to clean up with just his paws, and stands up with another stretch. "Speaking of which...should we get going?"

"Yes, yes we should." She picks up her pack, slipping it on. "Follow me; we should get there in no time."

* * *

"I _knew_ I heard one!" Sparky practically cheers as the two walk through a gap in the trees, discovering a shallow lake with a slow, but still audible, current.

Ember follows, shaking her head as she giggles at his energy. "Yep, you were right. Tell you what, how about we eat a few of my berries for breakfast after we get clean as a reward?"

His growling stomach provides enough of an answer, and his face flushes red. "G-Good idea..." He quickly focuses his attention on the water, stepping into it carefully to avoid slipping. Once he's relatively deep in, he starts rubbing away the dirt with a paw, having slightly more luck than his previous attempt without the water.

The Vulpix comes in at a more sedate pace, having set down her bags on the shore. She stops when the water is just at about her knees, not going any deeper. She starts with a quick rinse of her coat before beginning the longer process of dampening her mane and tails, gently working the grime out of them.

Noticing her apprehension at going too deep in, Sparky pauses his almost halfway complete efforts to rinse his side and begins walking back over slowly. "Need some help?"

"I'm fine," she says simply as she tries to make sure the curls in her mane stay intact. "I just don't go deep in water unless I'm in the safety of my own bath."

"Oh...alright then," Sparky replies with slight hesitation, going back to rinsing himself off. "Just looks like you're having a bit of trouble."

"Well, not used to doing this just, you know, out anywhere." She puffs a bit of flame to dry her face and mane. "I'll probably still scrub a little more tonight, at least to smell better. Just a quick rinse for now." She starts doing the same puffs of flame to each of her tails, making sure the tips are nice and curled.

Nodding, the Shinx leaves her to her business, finishing up his own cleaning before stepping out of the stream with a relieved sigh. He looks back at Ember, patiently waiting for her to finish as well.

She takes a few more minutes, but eventually steps out of the water. Puffing her paws dry, she speaks. "Okay, now for that nice breakfast…" She looks over to her bag, only to find it not there. "Wait, what? Where'd it go?"

Surprised, Sparky looks to where the bag had been before, just now noticing its absence. He runs over to the spot, as if doing so would cause it to fade into existence. Instead, all he finds is the slight imprint in the ground the bag had left when deposited.

Then a cheri berry falls from the sky in front of him.

Looking up, he sees something in the trees above that was definitely not there before. A strange, four-legged dark pink creature with a dark gray stripe around its neck, one around its torso, and two dots on its rear. Its legs, as well as two extra appendages protruding from its back, are yellow-and-purple striped, and on its forehead is a sharp white horn. Hanging from a short white thread coming out of its mouth is Ember's bag.

"Hey! That's mine!" The Vulpix runs over, standing under the intruder and glaring at it.

The creature looks down, the expression on its face not changing. When it speaks, it has a clearly mischievous tone to it. "Is it? Well, isn't this a problem for you, then?" It turns its head and shoots a second long white string from its mouth, off into the trees. "Accept my condolences for the loss of your unmarked, unattended possession." It began to scurry quickly off across the web, moving exceptionally fast considering its size in comparison to the thread.

Growling, the Fire-type opens her mouth, ready to launch her elements at the web, only to see the trees beyond it and begrudgingly shut her mouth. She turns to her electric friend. "Come on! It stole our food, and my bag!" She turns to begin running after it, only to see that it has already disappeared from sight. All that remains is the trail of web going from one tree to another, outlining the path it took.

Sparky quickly begins running underneath the trail of thread, only looking back once to make sure the Vulpix was with him. He notices the erratic path it seems to be taking, unable to help but feel like they're essentially going around in circles. After a few minutes, he stops, and puts a foreleg out to get Ember to do the same.

Skidding to a halt, she looks at him, eyes smoldering. "What? Why are we stopping?"

"It's not just trying to get away," he explains. "It's trying to lose us. It can move faster on those webs than we can on the ground. If we keep just following it like this, it'll have stopped using trees and escaped to somewhere else long before we hit the end of the trail." He looks around at their surroundings; sure enough, just about every tree in sight has a web on it leading to another one. "Ember...do you know what kind of Pokémon that was?"

"Yeah, that was a… Ar… Air…" She struggles with the name a moment. "Ariados! That's what it is! It's a Bug-type."

"Ariados..." the Shinx mutters to himself, looking around once more before closing his eyes. After several seconds, they open back up, and he looks to the Vulpix once again. "Which direction is Auraville from here?"

"Umm…" She looks around. "That way." Her paw points behind and to the right of them.

"Then follow me." Turning until he's facing almost directly left of the direction she pointed, he starts running, a surprisingly determined and confident expression on his features. Ember follows, her anger subdued a bit by curiosity at this new side to her friend.

* * *

It barely takes five minutes for the two to come across an interesting sight: a large hole in the ground, with some sort of spiral staircase made of solid dirt leading down into it. Both of them can feel something strange about the air around the hole, and Sparky peers down into it curiously.

"Can't see a thing down there..." he mumbles. "No clue what's up with this place."

"Looks like a dungeon to me…" Ember says, looking over his shoulder. "These sorts of places are dangerous; the Pokémon in them always hostile. Only Pokémon with a reason, or exploration teams looking for treasure, go in them. They're also never the same when you go in them; the layout completely changes and no one knows why."

"Dungeon...sounds like the kind of place Ariados would hide." Sparky glances back at her. "Should we go in?"

She hesitates, but nods. "Yeah! He's got my stuff!"

"Then let's go." He puts a paw on the first dirt step, only to hesitate and take a couple steps back instead; a stark contrast to his earlier demeanour. "Um...ladies first?"

She rolls her eyes, but still steps in front of him, an almost catwalk-esque attitude to her step. "Why, thank you, kind sir." Her stance quickly shifts to that of a hunter, eyes gleaming as a few wisps of fire come from between her teeth. "Now let's go _roast_ that bug."

The two venture down into the dungeon, both surprised at the sudden illumination that allows them to see to some extent despite no visible source of light. However, they don't even get to mention the impossibility of this before a Spinarak crawls up and tries sticking the Vulpix to the ground with a sticky string of web.

"Ewww!" The little fox tries to shake off the web. When that fails, she narrows her eyes and shoots a ball of embers right into the spider's face. She grins as it skitters off, only to collapse before it gets out of their sight. "Not even a second in and already attacked… no wonder explorers always say these are dangerous…" She starts pulling at the web, met with… moderate success. "Hey, Sparky… help please?"

The Shinx starts using his own paw to try and break the web, surprisingly not getting stuck to it like his friend. "What do you mean by 'explorers'?" He manages to snap the web in two just as he finishes asking.

She steps out of the sticky substance, giving him a grateful nod. "Explorers are Pokémon whose jobs are to explore places like this." She motions to the cave around them. "To find Pokémon or items lost in them, to map areas safely around them, and to find legendary treasures within them. They go into these places all the time, coming out stronger, better, and keeping everyone else safer."

"Huh..." While Sparky seems to understand, he doesn't make any effort to continue asking questions along that topic, instead just motioning for them to keep moving. The room they're in isn't too large, but it has three branching paths leading in different directions. "Any clue where to go to find a way deeper in?"

"...no idea." Picking up a rock, the Fire-type flicks it into the air, waiting until it lands with a pointed end toward one of the tunnels. "That way maybe?" she offers. Deciding it's better than nothing, Sparky walks towards the tunnel, stepping in while looking around carefully for traps or ambushes.

With a couple of turns the two end up in a room smaller than the first, but equally as devoid of anything unique about it. The Vulpix readies herself just in case, but no enemies present themselves. "Huh… thought for sure there'd be something."

The Shinx nods absently, having been distracted by something out of place on the floor. He walks over to find what looks like some sort of yellow seed. "What's this?"

"That's a seed. A Stun Seed, actually," Ember replies, looking warily at it. "It paralyses when it breaks, so we can use it on others, but don't go eating it or anything."

"Right. Guess this is what you meant by explorers coming down here for items." He looks over it before focusing back on the task at hand. "Which direction now?"

For the next several minutes, they travel through the dungeon, occasionally finding more items such as berries or other seeds. They also find more Pokémon; Spinarak, Wurmple, and Caterpie were the most common. Being a Fire-type, Ember gets rid of most of them before they can do anything truly damaging, Sparky just sitting back and watching.

Eventually, they reach another dirt staircase leading down deeper into the dungeon. Ember motions to it with her head. "Well, that's one floor down. That leads to the next one. We don't really want to get lost anywhere, but never _ever _get on separate floors from your team."

Nodding, Sparky follows her down the stairs. At the bottom is another small room, with a strange panel in the floor against the wall. It's mostly a dark gray, but in the middle is a light green arrow. Curious, Sparky steps over to it. "Is this a trap, or a direction, or something?"

The Vulpix quickly bites his tail and pulls him away, spitting it out of her mouth so she can speak. "If it's in the floor, it's a trap! I mean, I think a few can be good, but most are bad. Some can even cause you to be vulnerable for the Pokémon around here!"

Sparky nods. "Sorry." He glances back at the tile. "...you'd think traps would be hidden better, though..."

At that moment, with neither of them noticing, a Surskit comes up and decides it doesn't like the two of them being here. It angrily shoots a small stream of water at the Vulpix. The fire fox hisses as it touches her, steam coming from her fur as she cries out.

Turning quickly and seeing the offending Pokémon, Sparky growls and tackles it to the ground, an electric charge coming off of him and practically frying the Surskit, knocking it out.

Ember tries to shake most of the water off, but is still visibly damp afterwards. Her voice has a hint of fatigue as she speaks. "Thanks... I guess he snuck up on us…"

"I should've kept a better eye out...sorry." The Shinx looks around, seeing a blue berry on the ground. Walking over, he recognizes it as the same as the one he had been given the day before for his headache. He brings it back to the Vulpix. "Here, this might help."

"Thanks… again." She smiles as she gratefully eats the treat, perking up. "Oran berries are always good for small stuff."

With that encounter out of the way, they continue on, still having to deal with varieties of Bug-type Pokémon. In addition to the occasional Surskit, some Weedle also start showing up, threatening deadly poison, but are quickly taken down before that can happen.

They manage to find the next staircase in significantly less time than on the last floor. Sparky looks down it, hearing some familiar skittering. "Think it's down there?"

"That, or it's closer." Ember looks to him, nudging him slightly with her tails. "Hey, thanks for coming down here with me, helping me get my stuff back. You didn't have to, you know."

Sparky smiles back at her. "And you didn't have to help me when you found me by the mountain. I'm still glad you did."

"Yeah, me too." She matches his smile before glaring down the hole. "Now let's go teach this guy a lesson so we can go be besties in a place that isn't dangerous."

The Shinx nods, and they start down the staircase.


	4. Chapter 3: Ariados

_**Author's Note:**_**Sorry in advance for the slower portions of this chapter. There's no category for it, but this story is also meant to be sort of a "slice of life" thing outside of the typical dungeon adventures, so expect some calmer moments frequently.**

* * *

Instead of another series of tunnels and rooms, they exit the stairs in a single large chamber. The walls, ceiling, and a part of the floor are covered in webbing, all of it narrowing the area to an almost den-like state. At the center of it, right in front of them, lies the culprit. He hasn't noticed them yet, his pink back to them.

Seeing that their appearance has gone undetected, Sparky glances to Ember and motions his head, suggesting they go forward. She nods, looking ahead and creeping along the ground. Her eyes peer around the chamber, trying to find her bag.

While nothing of interest appears to be on the floor, a look at the walls and ceiling reveals exactly what all that webbing is for. Attacked to the webs are all sorts of trinkets and items; berries and seeds like those found throughout the dungeon, bags likely stolen from various travelers, and several other odd or unrecognizable objects. On one wall, not too far from the floor, is Ember's own bag, still packed full.

She spots it, her eyes lighting up. Her attention soon falls back to the arachnid, eyes flicking between the two goals. Looking to her friend, she motions between the two, tilting her head at him.

Understanding her intentions, the Shinx looks between the two as well. He's about to move towards the bag, hoping to just get it and leave quickly, only for the Ariados to suddenly whirl around with a loud hiss, spotting them both.

"You followed me down here?" it growls, both angry and surprised. "So persistent…"

Ember hisses back, fire in her throat. "You stole from us, of course we'd follow! Now give it back!"

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you," it replies smugly.

Riled up, the Fire-type replies with a growl. "Because I'm leaving here with it no matter the case. I don't care if I have to burn you to do it."

"Feisty...I like that." Ariados looks at the Shinx and narrows its eyes. "...you."

Sparky blinks, surprised at being addressed. "Huh?"

The Bug-type creeps closer towards him, causing him to back up. "I thought you looked familiar when I saw you...perhaps I was mistaken, but…" It shakes its head. "Never mind that. If you and your hotheaded friend here want your bag back, I'm not going to just hand it over. You'll have to take it from me."

Narrowing her eyes, the fire fox looks to Sparky. "You ready?"

The Shinx nods, still confused, but putting on a determined expression as well. "Ready."

Taking that as some sort of cue, Ariados hisses and charges at them, skittering quickly over to the Vulpix first and hurling itself at her. Yelping, she dives out of the way, paws skidding slightly on the dirt as she lands.

While the spider's attention is focused elsewhere, Sparky tries to tackle it from behind. He slams into it, only for it to shrug the attack off and turn around, shooting a large web at him. Sparky cries in surprise as the web covers him, trapping him against the ground.

"Sparky, duck!" Ember launches two shots of her namesake; one at the close backside of their foe, and the other at her trapped friend. The Shinx ducks as well as he can given the circumstance, and is rewarded with a slight warm feeling before the webs around him dissipate, letting him get back up.

Ariados, meanwhile, hisses in pain as it gets hit with the small flame aimed at it and promptly scurries to the wall, climbing up onto the ceiling and trying to launch similar sticky threads at the two intruders.

Staring upward, the Fire-type returns fire while dodging the threads. This doesn't exactly help her aim, but it isn't until she suddenly finds herself yanked back by one of her tails that she is concerned. She looks back, finding one end of the web on her tail while the other is in their foe's mouth. Grinning, Ariados yanks on the web, pulling Ember upwards to hang in the air. It keeps pulling, bringing her closer and closer with each tug.

Sparky, still suffering a bit of slowdown from the web, finally shakes it off in time to see what's going on. Panicking, he tries to jump for Ember, but by this point she's out of his reach. The Vulpix flails in the air as she is held. A bit of panic sets in as she thrashes, random flames spewing from her mouth as she alternates between trying and failing to grab the web and reaching desperately for her friend, eyes wide.

Thinking fast, Sparky suddenly remembers something he grabbed earlier. Pulling out the Stun Seed he found on the first floor, he narrows his eyes up at the Ariados before throwing it.

The seed makes direct contact with the spider's abdomen, and it freezes up. It falls from the ceiling, landing on the ground on its back, the web attached to Ember disconnecting from its mouth.

As soon as the string goes loose, the fire fox finds herself falling. She has enough time for a short yell before thumping onto her friend's back. Sparky collapses under the sudden weight and falls to the floor, the wind knocked out of him. "Oof-!" He grunts as he looks back at her. "Y-You okay?"

She shakily nods. "Yeah…" Seeing the one who did this to her still helpless, she gives the Shinx a quick hug before purposefully hurrying over, fire already building. Ariados hears her coming and tries to move, but is unable to do so, the seed having petrified it. It braces for the attack, a bad feeling in the pit of its stomach.

Ember calmly walks around to the arachnid's face, smiling deviously at it. Bracing herself, she opens her maw wide, heat growing as a few wisps of flame come out. Sparky watches with anticipation and slight worry, while the Ariados just watches in fear.

Letting herself charge for a little longer, the Fire-type suddenly rears back before blasting a ball of embers the size of her own head right into the spider's face.

The arachnid screeches in pain as it gets enveloped in the fire, flailing about wildly, the seed's effects apparently wearing off. However, despite the intensity of the flame, it doesn't stop the creature from managing to get back onto its four legs, albeit more worn-out. It opens its mouth, but no string comes out.

Sparky suddenly realizes what's about to happen, eyes going wide. "Ember! Get out of the way!" The fox once again finds herself diving out of the way of an attack, this time it's a barrage of glowing purple needles. Ariados narrows its eyes and turns, continuing to rapidly fire, the needles chasing after Ember as she runs, getting closer and closer.

Hoping to distract it, Ember tries a different move. Fading as she runs, she disappears completely for a moment before slamming into the foe. Unfortunately, though it hurts it, Ariados continues firing as she reappears in the same spot and has to keep running.

In the middle of its attack, Ariados feels a weight on its back and stops firing to turn around. It gets treated to a sharp glare from the Shinx now perched atop it, followed by a strong shock of electricity that runs through its body.

No longer hearing the shots behind her, Ember takes the opportunity. Keeping her momentum, she turns and launches herself into a tackle against the spider's side.

Ariados cries out and falls over, Sparky hopping off of it and ending his attack. The spider groans. "Okay! I give! I give!"

Ember smiles, putting a paw on it as she speaks. "So, we can have my stuff back?"

"Yes! Just take it! And anything else you want!" It skitters up onto its four legs, no longer looking in the mood to fight, and scurries towards the staircase. "I'm going back to the jungle!" With that final panicked declaration, it climbs out of the room, away from the two.

Sparky sighs in relief, falling back into a sitting position. "That...was tough…"

"Yeah…" Grabbing her bag, Ember fishes out some berries and offers half to him as she sits down. "It was kinda cool though, right? I mean… we were like real explorers! Dungeon delving, solving crimes… even if it was a little scary."

Sparky happily accepts the berries, his stomach growling in anticipation of being filled. "Yeah...I wonder whose stuff all this is, though." He looks around at the belongings stuck to the walls. "That Ariados must have been at this for a while…"

"Seems like it…" She pops a few into her mouth, chewing while she thinks. "I don't think there's many ways to tell whose stuff this is, but it's not like we can take it all. My bag is small and still almost stuffed with berries." Her ears twitch. "Such a waste of good loot to leave it all…"

"Maybe we can just take anything we think is useful, and come back for the rest some other time…" As the Shinx looks around, his eyes snap to something in the wall across from them. Getting up, he walks over to what appears to be a dark blue rock stuck to the wall, about the size of an oran berry. "What's this?"

The Vulpix looks in curiosity, but shrugs. "I have no idea. It could be your memento if you want."

Sparky shrugs as well and takes the rock in his paws, yanking it free from the web. He looks it over, as if expecting there to be something on it, but finds it to just be a shiny blue rock. _Yet I can't stop looking at it..._

Stretching, Ember stands up. "Congratulations on your first treasure, Sparky." She walks over to him, patting his back. "I hope this is a memory you won't forget."

He chuckles. "Thanks, Ember." He looks down at the rock in thought. "...hey, you said this is the sort of thing explorers do all the time, right?"

She nods. "Yeah, this was actually exactly what explorers do. The only thing we don't have is a membership in the guild and actual paying missions."

"Well, why don't we become explorers, then?" he suggests, smiling. "I mean, we're pretty good at this, and I think it'd be fun." _Plus, not like I have anything else to do..._

"Really?!" Ember beams, clapping her paws together. "I mean I was gonna ask you once we got to town and stuff, but you mean you want to?" She hugs him, giggling happily.

The Shinx yelps, surprised by the hug, but eventually manages to regain his smile. "W-Well, sure...I mean, why not?"

Letting him go, she doesn't stop smiling. "This is so cool! I mean my parents are an exploration team so I always wanted to be in one, but they always said I could never do it on my own, I at least had to have a partner!" She laughs, all six tails wagging. "I can't wait!"

Chuckling, Sparky stands back up. "Maybe we should get back to town soon, then? Can't really go to this guild you mentioned when we're in the bottom of a cave."

Oh, yeah…" She laughs sheepishly as she rubs the back of her head. "Probably a good idea. Maybe stop by my place to get clean too, and drop off our stuff."

"Right." Looking around and seeing nothing of interest that they can reach attached to the walls, Sparky looks back to the staircase they came down. "Should we go now, then?"

"Yes, please." Energetic from a combination of berries and excitement, she bounds ahead, motioning for him to follow.

* * *

Ember points as they crest a hill, now out of the forest and into the fields. "We're almost there. You can see Auraville from here."

Squinting, Sparky does indeed see a small town in the distance. He smiles in relief. "Good...I was afraid I'd have to sleep in the forest again."

"Agreed, though it wasn't that bad." They continue walking as they talk. "I wonder what time it is... I know the guild closes at night, so I'm just trying to plan when we can actually get there. We still have to do your tour after all, and get properly presentable to apply."

"We should have time, I think…" He looks up, seeing the sun above them, a little closer to the horizon than if it were noon. "If we hold off on the tour, at least."

"I guess that's fine, we can just do one later." She does another little skip. "I'm still so happy we're doing this."

Sparky chuckles. "You're really excited about this, huh?"

"I told you, I always wanted to be an explorer." She smiles. "I've been wanting to do it especially since I started living on my own a few months ago. It's why I have a small place; the guild provides lodging until you graduate, so I didn't need something permanent."

"Yeah, about this guild...what's it like?" he asks, curious.

"The concept or the place?" she asks.

"Well...both, I guess." He shrugs. "I gathered that it's basically a home for exploration teams, but that's about it."

"Hmm…" The Fire-type organizes her thoughts. "The guild is a place meant to train and nurture those with the drive to become explorers. You could just go do dungeons like we did and be a team that way, but most teams struggle that way." She continues as the town gets closer. "The guild is where all requests are sent in for teams to go into one dungeon or another, and they even rank them so a team doesn't go to a place and end up in over their heads. The local police also send in bounties for the same purpose. Of course, the guild does take a big cut of the rewards… but actually this guild takes less than most. Oh, and beyond citizen requests, the guild is also called in sometimes to explore newly discovered areas, or sometimes even bigger stuff than that!"

Sparky nods slowly. "Sounds like a lot..." He looks toward the town, which is getting closer, and then back to his friend. "Who runs the guild, exactly?"

"In this town, the guild is Bibarel's Guild. He actually graduated from the same guild my parents did and went to found his own one in the basically same way of his old one." She looks back at her friend. "That's the big goal of explorers: to get good enough to graduate to where you are only loosely tied to the guild. From there, you can go on and live your life as a certified professional. You know, go get a house, do things for yourself, make eggs, that sort of thing."

He nods again. "That's pretty neat." Unsure of what to say other than that, he goes back to walking quietly.

"... you know, at this point I would point out that I've been yammering on and ask you about yourself… but I guess we can't really do that, huh?" Ember hums, thinking. "Maybe you can just… talk about whatever? Just sort of talk about what's on your mind?"

He sighs. "Just that picture...I forgot about it while we were in that dungeon, but now that I don't have anything to focus on, it's all I can think about."

"Well…" They are almost in the actual town now. "Maybe you can tell me how you knew to look for the dungeon when we were chasing Ariados? It was really quick thinking on your part."

Sparky pauses, thinking. "I...don't actually know." He resumes walking. "I just thought about it, saw something in my head...started running there."

"What do you mean? Like… you were remembering something?" she asks hopefully.

He shakes his head. "I don't think so...all I really saw was a location. I don't think I've been to that place before. If I had, I probably would've remembered more when we got there." He thinks for a moment. "...that Ariados seemed like it knew me...maybe we could've gotten answers from it..."

"Didn't he say he was mistaken, though?" she asks as they enter the town.

"Maybe, but...it would've been something." Sparky sighs. "I'm just grasping at straws here, honestly..."

"Maybe you just shouldn't worry too much." She slows down until she's next to him. "You just seem to be stressing yourself out right now. Maybe just… take some time to live your life, and see if any remnants from your old one come by."

The Shinx nods. "I'll try..." He looks around as they walk through the town. "So, where's your house?"

"Well…" Ember giggles sheepishly. "'House' might be overstating it a bit…" The building she leads him to could be more accurately described as a 'shack' by its size, but the structure itself is in good condition. "Like I said, I didn't exactly expect to stay here long."

Sparky smiles. "Well, at least it's something, right?" He waits for her to open the door.

"Yep!" She opens the door, heading inside to a home that really doesn't warrant a tour, considering everything can be seen from a single spot.

Overall, it seems to be the home of someone who would not spend too much time here. The bed, or rather, nest of blankets, takes up most of the space, with one corner being devoted to what appears to be storage, while another is a small food-prep area, mostly bowls and a small icebox. Finally, another door is smack in the middle of the last wall, identified to be a bathroom through the crack of the not fully closed portal.

She looks to him expectantly for a reaction, swishing her tails. "Well, this is my little place…"

"Wow..." He looks around, not quite awestruck but certainly surprised. "Did you build this place yourself?"

The Vulpix shakes her head. "Oh no, I don't think I could do that. It was just a little place I found and my parents helped me move in. I brought the washtub in the bathroom myself, though. I may be a Fire-type, but I always want to look my best." She faces him and does a small pose to demonstrate this.

Sparky can't help but laugh at her pose. "And getting messy on explorations doesn't turn you off at all?"

"No, that's part of it." She pouts slightly as she sees a bit of webbing still stuck to one of her tails. "Doesn't mean I don't want to be clean the instant I get back…"

"I can understand that, at least." He looks over himself, noting the layers of dirt in his fur. "So who washes up first?"

She shrugs. "Up to you. Could save water if you agree with the scent I'm going to use and just share." Walking into her bathroom, she rummages in the small shelf there. "I've got… Cheri Berry, Rose, and… Vanilla."

He chuckles and follows her in. "I don't really care about how I smell, honestly. We'll be sticking together anyway, so they'll just think it's coming from you."

She giggles. "I dunno, I think there might be a few raised eyebrows if I let you wander off on your own smelling like roses."

The Shinx's face goes a little red at that. "Right...um...something not too noticeable, then? Maybe?"

"Probably Vanilla then." Taking out a small white bottle, she sets it next to the tub. "Cheri Berry is more like a delight for Fire-types and tickles the noses of other types."

He nods. "Alright, then." Noticing the spout over the tub, he motions to it. "Want me to start the water?"

"Yes please. It only has one temperature, but I can heat it up easily." Ember gets out a few towels. "Hot water doesn't bother me nearly as much as cold."

Sparky turns the tap, watching the water start to fill the tub. "Let me know when it's full enough."

The fire fox gets out a few more things like various brushes, combs, and a curler before turning around, nodding to him. "That's probably fine." He nods back and turns the spout off, looking at the water in the tub. "One second…" Bending down, she aims her snout at a small cubby under the tub, blowing fire into it until steam starts to come out of the water. "There we go."

The Shinx dips a paw into the water, as if testing it out. "Huh...that was fast." He chuckles.

"I got good at it." Standing behind him, she nudges his backside with her head. "Go on, get in. Time to see how well you clean up."

He jumps a bit from the nudge. "Oh, r-right..." He climbs in, making sure not to slip, and sits down. Just like in the stream earlier that day, he starts trying to rub away the dirt on his body.

Climbing in herself, Ember tutts at him. "Now come on, this is going to be a big day and we need to look our best. Be sure to get every part of you wet before you start using the body wash, from tail," she dunks her back half and swishes it around under water, "to tip." Her head is dunked next, getting everything nice and soaked. When she emerges, her kind's natural curled mane has come undone, letting it fall behind her ears in wavy lengths.

Sparky rolls his eyes playfully. "I _do_ remember what a bath is, at least." He continues rubbing at the dirt while he dunks his rear end as well. "This stuff's just starting to itch."

"Let it soak, then use the soap," she recites, grabbing the vanilla-scented wash and starting to rub it in her mane.

Sighing, the Shinx tries to ignore the dirt on his body for now and focuses on getting his body wet. Once he's finished soaking his back end, he sticks his head under the water, keeping it under for a couple seconds before coming back up, rubbing at his eyes. He suddenly feels a pair of paws rubbing something into the fur on his head. He turns quickly to see who it is.

Ember smiles at him, giggling at how quickly he had turned. "What? You act surprised to see me." She continues cleaning his head, getting the dirt out even as she gets the soap in.

"I just didn't expect you to-" He stops talking and makes a spitting sound as a bit of the soap falls onto his tongue. He quickly shuts his eyes and mouth to keep out the substance.

Finishing quickly, she nudges him. "Rinse it out now, then you can talk."

He obediently dunks his head again, rubbing the soap off, then comes back up and blinks his eyes back open. "That stuff tastes horrible."

"Well you're not supposed to eat it, silly." She splashes his chest lightly before she rubs his head. "Softer already. Think you can handle your tail on your own while I get started on mine?"

He glances back at his rather thin tail. "I think so." Taking a bit of the soap in his paw, he starts rubbing up and down the appendage, carefully avoiding the four-pointed star on the end.

"There you go," she says encouragingly. Looking back down at herself, she takes one of her six tails, meticulously starting to lather it, careful to always be gentle going against the fur's direction.

It doesn't take long for Sparky to finish cleaning himself, the dirt all over his body successfully washed off, and he looks over. "Almost done?"

She looks up from where she had just finished cleaning her second tail, letting it fall into the water and rinse. "No, I still have a lot to do." Picking up the next tail, she begins the process again.

He sighs, leaning back in the water against the side of the tub. "Of course..."

"You can get out if you want," she says patiently. "But until all my tails are washed, I'm not done."

"Fine..." Getting back up, he climbs out of the tub, starting to dry himself off awkwardly with one of the towels. "Should I just wait in the main room?"

"If you want…" Ember replies absentmindedly, still cleaning tail three. "You can use the brushes if you want."

Once he has himself dried off, he shakes his head. "Thanks, but I like my fur the way it is." He heads out into the main room, closing the door behind himself.

* * *

Later, probably later than she would care to admit, Ember emerges from the bathroom. Her appearance is immaculate, coat shiny, mane back in its curl with her black-tipped bangs hanging, and her six tails all lovingly tended to. Spotting her friend, and soon partner, sitting in the middle of the room staring at the door, she walks over and sits next to him.

"What are you doing?" she asks suddenly.

He jumps, looking at her quickly before relaxing. "I don't know. Just started staring off into space, I guess..." He glances back at the door. "Thought someone was gonna walk in for some reason."

"Huh?" She looks to the door as well. "Why would anyone come here?"

The Shinx doesn't speak for a moment, but eventually sighs and stands up. "Maybe I'm just paranoid about that Ariados coming looking for us, or something. That's probably it."

Tilting her head, the Vulpix hesitantly accepts this. "Okay… well," she perks up, "ready to go see about becoming official explorers?"

He smirks at her. "I've been ready for at least fifteen minutes."

She huffs, flicking one of her tails across his nose as she stands. "Cheeky. Still, no time like now I guess." She shivers, giggling. "I'm getting all excited again."

"Then let's go!" He grins, clearly excited himself. "You know the way, right?"

"Of course!" Ember opens the door, quickly heading out with Sparky right behind her.


	5. Chapter 4: Bibarel's Guild

After a quick jaunt through town, the two Pokémon find themselves outside what appears to be a large entryway, but with only a small building behind it. The theme is like what one would expect if one crossed a wooden fortress with a more humble home. The only two things that stand out are the large sign to one sign proclaiming it to be "Bibarel's Guild", and a mat in front of the door with said pokemon's face saying "Welcome".

Sparky looks over the building. "Just a hunch, but I'm guessing this is the guild."

"Yep, this is the place!" Ember looks behind her, spinning in a small circle as she tries to see something. "How do I look? Did I get dirty on the way over?"

The Shinx looks over, chuckling. "All we did was walk, not go through another dungeon. You look fine, don't worry." He steps up to the wooden door and knocks on it.

"This is an important day! I don't want to show up scruffy!" She prances in place with nerves.

A different female voice calls from beyond the door. "One moment please."

Sparky glances to the Vulpix, whispering a reply to her. "These guys are explorers, not fashion designers."

Narrowing her eyes, she whispers back. "You're lucky I didn't make you wear a bowtie."

Before he can reply, a loud click come from the entryway, the large wooden door raising up to reveal a Kirlia standing still beyond it. When she speaks, her voice has the odd effect of seeming to come half from her mouth, and half from inside the perceiver's head. "Hello, what can I help you with?"

Still a little annoyed from the bowtie comment, Sparky nudges his friend, urging her forward to speak first.

Straightening up, the Vulpix walks forward, clearing her throat. "Hello. We were hoping to come here today in order to apply to become an official exploration team of the guild."

A small smile appears on the Psychic-type's face. "Very well, if you'll follow me…" She turns on a dime, walking on the tips of her feet to a ladder leading downward, descending without a second thought.

Ember blinks. "Huh… that went well."

"Didn't think it'd be this easy..." the Shinx mutters. He shrugs and motions forward to the ladder. "Going or not?"

"Oh, right!" The fire fox quickly runs forward, situating herself a moment before she starting climbing down the ladder herself. Sparky follows, chuckling to himself.

As they descend, they get a brief glimpse of a floor as they pass it. The main attractions seem to be two giant boards that a few pokemon are gathered around. Unfortunately, they can't see much else as they continue downward. Their guide leads them off at a floor that is far wider than one would have expected in a completely underground structure, and surprisingly well-lit. While a few pokemon can be seen going into various tunnels, Ember and Sparky follow their graceful guide to a set of large doors.

The Kirlia turns to them. "Beyond this door is our guild master. Be respectful, but do not be nervous."

Sparky nods, looking to Ember for her reaction. Her nod is much more enthusiastic than his, her smile matching it.

"Good." Turning, she looks to the doors as they glow blue, opening inward as she strolls in ahead of them.

As the two enter, they are greeted not by some grand hall or such thing, but by a comfortable office. Almost everything seems to be made of wood, from the light fixtures, to the frames holding various pictures on the wall, to the massive desk, behind which sits the brown beaver himself.

Bibarel looks up from his desk at the Pokémon who have entered the room. "Oh, Grace? Is there something I can help you with?"

She nods, moving to the side of the room as she gestures towards the newcomers. "These two would like to join our ranks as an exploration team."

"An exploration team?" He looks over the two, standing up. "Not a lot of Pokémon come here as a team." He smiles. "Good friends, I take it?"

Ember nods. "Yes sir! Best friends!" Sparky gives her a funny look at her excitement, but doesn't refute her.

"Well, that's great!" Bibarel leans under the desk and comes out with a pen and a sheet of paper. "Signing up isn't too difficult a process. Just write down your names and the name of your team here, and you'll be good to go."

"Umm… name of our team?" The Vulpix blinks, looking to her friend blankly.

Sparky shrugs. "I didn't think of one, sorry."

Smiling nervously at the expectant faces of the Kirlia and Bibarel, Ember's mind goes a mile a minute as she frantically tries to come up with something. "Um… uh… no… that's dumb… er… what if… no…" She suddenly grabs Sparky, pulling his head next to hers as she whispers. "Okay, I'm having trouble here… I know it might be bad, but what do you think about… Team X? Cause, you know… both our species names end in it?"

Sparky blinks. "Um...I guess it works, then. I mean, it's just a collective name, so...doesn't really matter what it is in the long run."

Nodding, Ember darts over and scribbles the information down on the paper, still nervous as she waits for it to be read. Bibarel picks it up, looking over it quickly before smiling and putting the paper away. "Congratulations! You're all registered."

"That's it? We're explorers now?" The Vulpix can still barely believe it.

"Not quite." Two badges, a large bag, and a rolled up piece of paper float over to them from the Kirlia. "You'll need these, and do remember that while you are explorers, you are also considered in-training within the guild itself."

Sparky takes the rolled up paper and unravels it, revealing it to be a map of the surrounding area. Auraville is almost directly in the middle, very clearly marked. Bibarel notices him looking over it. "That's a wonder map. It'll keep track of any locations you visit and help you get back to them when you need to."

"... well, that would have been useful even before we started exploring," Ember comments.

"You also have your explorer's badges," Bibarel continues. "They can be used to rescue any Pokémon you find trapped in mystery dungeons, as well as help you escape them quickly."

"Cool!" Picking up the next item, the fire fox looks up expectantly.

"It's a bag," Kirlia says simply. "It holds things and is made of a material that will never tear."

"Oh… still neat…" She looks to Sparky, wondering why he hasn't reacted to any of this awesome stuff. He continues to focus on the map, not even looking like he's examining it anymore. Instead, he just keeps staring at the center of it.

Bibarel, oblivious to the new explorer's strange focus, begins to wrap up the session. "Grace here will show you where you'll be sleeping. Tomorrow, you'll start taking on assignments and such. Ask one of the other explorers in the guild to help you with that." He motions with a paw for Kirlia to show them out, and heads back behind his desk.

Leading them back outside the door, the Kirlia speaks once it's closed. "He gets focused on paperwork sometimes, but you'll probably see him around more. He's a very… hands-on type of guild master. He likes to come around and make sure every single explorer is alright." She smiles wider. "He really is a great leader."

"Sure sounds like it." As they enter one of the caves, Ember questions the Psychic-type. "Hey, how much stuff are we allowed to move in to customize our space?"

A light humming sound echoes in her head before their guide speaks. "As long as it's confined to your room, bring as much as you want."

"Yes!" The Vulpix does a small victory skip.

This whole time, Sparky says nothing. He's stopped looking at the map, now carrying it back in its rolled-up state, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention and is just following the two girls. He almost walks into the wall when they start turning a corner, and rushes to catch back up.

Opening a small door, Kirlia gestures inside. "These shall be your quarters for the duration of your time with us." The inside appears to be essentially a den inside a large empty cave. The only things inside are two straw nest beds, lights, and what appears to be the door to a small bathroom.

"Well, still better than my place, once we bring a few things," Ember says succinctly.

Sparky glances at the two beds and quickly hops onto the one closer to the bathroom door. "I call this one!"

Rolling her eyes, Ember mutters to Kirlia. "Boys…" She hops over into the other bed. "I call bathroom first in the mornings!"

The Shinx groans. "You take forever, though!"

The Psychic-type giggles to herself. "Teenagers…"

"Because I like to look my best!" the Vulpix counters, batting her eyelashes as she swishes her tail.

"And I don't care about how I look," Sparky retorts bluntly. "So why not let me use my two minutes before you use your twenty?" He frowns. "Besides, I don't know how good I am at holding it."

"You should care how you look. I bet you could look really good." Neither of them notice Kirlia make her exit as Ember speaks. "And how about this: first come first serve in the mornings?"

"Fine, fine." He sighs and lies down on his makeshift bed. Finally noticing Kirlia's disappearance, he pulls out the wonder map again. "Ember, did we find any maps like this before Bibarel gave it to us?"

"No," she answers. "I just usually worked off memory, but I never went far outside town. I think where I found you was the farthest I've ever been."

Sparky blinks. "...Ember..." He puts a paw on the map. "I've seen this before."

"What do you mean? I thought only explorers get maps like this…" She tilts her head in confusion.

"I don't know, and frankly, I don't care." The Shinx looks up at her. "If this is the first time I've seen one since waking up by the mountain..." He trails off, letting her finish the thought in her head.

"Then that means it's something you remembered from before!" Ember claps her paws together. "See? I told you stuff would come up. Did you remember anything else?"

He frowns, looking back at the map. "No...I just know that I've definitely seen this before." He puts a paw on one part of the map, just outside Auraville. "And that this is where we dealt with that Ariados. But that's more of a feeling than a memory."

"It's still a start." She shifts around in her straw. "Definitely replacing this with my blanket nest… I could probably make you one too if you want."

Sparky smiles, rolling the map back up. "Thanks, that'd be great. This straw is kind of itchy." He sticks it inside their treasure bag.

Flicking up a bit of the straw, Ember muses aloud. "Guess we have to go get my stuff now so we can move in and have a nice sleep tonight… ready to haul things across town?"

He chuckles and stands back up. "I don't mind. Let's go get it."

* * *

"Well, I don't think that went too badly." The Vulpix walks out of the small bathroom, having co-carried the washtub from her old place. Tilting her head, she hisses as her neck pops once. "Don't look forward to having to do it again, though."

Sparky nods with a sigh, lying on the large pile of blankets they had brought over. "At least I know I'll get to sleep easily..."

"True, once you actually make your bed." She pops one of her oran berries into her mouth, offering him the bag of them.

He stands up reluctantly, accepting a berry. "Right." He pulls some of the blankets off the pile and over to where his straw bed had been before it was kicked aside. He dumps the blankets into the spot and smooths them out.

She watches him in curiosity, picking up her own blankets while shoving her straw bed aside. Taking a few of the blankets, she strategically half-rolls them before arranging them in a circle, overlapping this with layer after layer of the other blankets laid flat. She looks back over to him when she's done.

He looks back from his spot lying on the rough bed he put together, tilting his head. "What is it?"

Settling down on her own sleeping spot, she simply smiles at him, tails swishing back and forth. "So… how's your bed?"

"It's comfy," he replies. "How's yours?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" She scoots over, patting the spot next to her.

Confused, Sparky stands up and makes his way over, lying on Ember's bed. He shifts around in it for a moment. "Huh...how'd you do that?" He looks over the carefully-placed blankets. "This feels a lot better than mine..."

She giggles, a smug smile on her face as she flips over, getting comfy on her back. "Because I made it right. You have to make a base ring first, otherwise it has no form." Her paw comes up and starts lightly batting at one of his ears. "Silly."

He raises an eyebrow at her tone. "Sorry, I must have forgotten how to make a bed at some point."

Her smile fades a bit as her paw lightly pushes his head down into the blankets. "Just had to make me feel guilty, didn't you?" She flips over, draping herself over his shoulders to keep him where he is.

The Shinx sighs and mumbles something incoherent into the blankets.

"Hmm?" She leans her head down next to his, nudging his muzzle. "Repeat that, please."

He mumbles again, this time somewhat easier to hear. "I said, I'm sorry."

Sighing, she rests where she is. "Me too… I shouldn't be so insensitive about this stuff. It's just easy to forget because other than the memory thing, you're normal."

Sparky goes quiet for a moment before speaking up again, turning his head so as to not be mumbling into the blankets. "That's only because I can't remember how I was before. For all we know, I was the exact opposite of normal." He smirks.

"Well, doesn't really matter to me." She giggles. "You are my friend and partner. The way I see it, that seems pretty good."

He smiles. "Thanks, Ember...can you let me up now?"

"Hmm… maybe. What is your argument for why I shouldn't just go ahead and go to sleep?" The Vulpix smiles toothily at him.

Sparky chuckles. "Hey, if you'd rather share a bed tonight, I won't complain. I'm not cold, though."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to get spoiled…" She rolls off him, standing up and heading over to his bed. "I guess you should have your own bed tonight, as long as we make it right."

Sighing, the Shinx stands up. "Think you could help me with that? Please?"

Laughing, she moves his bed out of the way so they can start again. "Well, how can I say no when you ask so nicely? 'Please' will get you many places."

He laughs as well, walking over and picking up one of the blankets. "So...how do I fold it?"

Picking up her own, she does a small demonstration. "Well, you hold one end then you give it a little twist…" She twirls the towel a few revolutions as it wraps itself. "Then you just make a nice circle with it, not too hard." Putting it on the ground, she bends it into a sleek curve.

Sparky just watches, astonished. "Uh..." He tries doing the same with his own blanket, coming up with a somewhat rougher version of hers. "Like that?"

"Close enough." She adds a third one, completing the circle. "Now you just lay the blankets on one at a time and you'll have a nice bed that has both support and durability. Comfiness is implied."

Nodding, he picks up another blanket and starts to place it down smoothly. "Thanks for the help."

"My pleasure." She giggles. "Wouldn't want to see if you get all grumpy if you don't get enough sleep."

"Speaking of sleep…" He yawns, laying down the last blanket. "I think we should turn in for the night."

Huffing at him, she taps a paw, looking expectant.

He looks back at her, confused. "What?"

She points to the bathroom. "Go brush your teeth. You always need to do that before bed."

Sparky sighs. "Really..." Grumbling to himself, he heads into the bathroom and shuts the door.


	6. Chapter 5: First Mission

Ember's internal clock wakes her up, the sun not having any chance of getting at her underground. Her mouth opens wide as she stretches and lets out a high-pitched yawn. Laying on her back, she tilts her head to look at her electric friend, seeing how he is doing. Rather than getting up along with her, he still seems to be fast asleep. Shaking her head at this, the Fire-type rolls over, getting up and walking over to her friend, whom she nudges.

"Hey, wake up. It's a new day in a new part of our lives!" She can't help but let a little excitement enter her voice.

Sparky groans and rubs at his eyes as he starts to wake up. "Morning..." He yawns, slowly moving into a sitting position.

"Good morning." She sits, smiling at him as her tails wag. "Ready for the big day?"

Opening his eyes and seeing his friend, he smiles back and nods before standing up. "Just give me a minute." He heads for the bathroom.

"Lucky I let you go first…" The female squirms in place.

He chuckles. "I'll be quick, don't worry." He shuts the door behind him to take care of business.

* * *

Kirlia, or Grace as her close friends call her, sits completely still with her legs folded underneath her as she meditates. No one knew why those who had dug the guild left this single large white stone in the floor, but all knew that once the Psychic-type came along and took a shine to it, it wasn't going anywhere. If ever one needed to find her, this was the first place they knew to look. Today is no exception as she sits there, eyes closed and mind open.

After getting some directions from other members of the guild, it is here where Ember and Sparky finally find her. The Electric-type takes it upon himself to get her attention. "Um...Kirlia?"

She answers them without opening either her mouth or eyes, simple projecting her voice into their minds. "Yes, what can I do for our newest explorers?"

"Uh..." A little surprised at this, the Shinx stumbles over his words for a moment. "W-We're not quite sure...what to do."

"Well, that would depend on if you feel you are ready to take on your first mission." Her voice is matter-of-fact on this.

Ember looks to her friend and nods vigorously. He looks back at her, then nods as well. "We are, yes."

"Excellent." Her eyes snap open, peering at the two at she stands. "If you would follow me, please." She turns and heads straight for the main ladder, heading upwards. All three of them step on the floor the two four-legged Pokémon had seen yesterday. Kirlia walks toward the two large boards, gesturing to them with a hand. "Now, these are the two main mission boards. The one on the left is for missions such as retrievals, rescues, explorations, most things such as that. The board on the right is one specifically meant for bounties posted by the local police force. Questions so far?"

Sparky blinks. "Bounties?" He walks over to the board on the right, looking over the sheets posted on it.

"Correct." Kirlia walks up behind him as Ember does the same. "These types of missions are to track down and apprehend known criminals that are hiding out in dungeons. They never give up without a fight, so you should be aware of that when taking one up."

The Shinx looks at the various sheets. "How come some of them have different letters on them?"

The Vulpix is the one to answer this. "Those are rankings. Think of them as sort of a general difficulty warning so you know what you're getting into."

Sparky nods. "I see...so bounties like these..." He motions to some E-ranks near the bottom, such as a Persian and an Ekans. "...are easier than ones like these?" He gestures to papers higher up on the board, such as a Luxray and a Zangoose, with large red 'A's on them.

"Yes; at your rank I would suggest starting at the lowest level missions, for safety reasons if nothing else," the Psychic-type says. "Perhaps something more from the other board as well unless you are looking for a big fight."

"I think we can handle either type," the Shinx says with a chuckle, looking back to his partner. "Right, Ember?"

"Yeah!" She bounces in place. "We kick butt and save Pokémon!"

A quiet laugh comes from their guide's mouth. "Very well. Something to bear in mind for the future as a little advice: dungeon trips have been known to take all day, so if you have multiple missions in one dungeon, you'll save a lot of time." She motions to the boards again. "For now, why don't you find something that catches your eye so we can see what you are made of?"

"Hmm…" Ember wanders over to the other board, browsing it. "Hey Sparky… come look at this one…"

The Electric-type walks over. "What is it?"

"Someone's missing in one of the nearby caves. I think that'd be great for a first official run, don't you?" She smiles at him.

He smiles back. "Sounds good to me." He pauses. "...if they're missing, how did they get a help letter here?"

"A friend of theirs sent it in, see?" She points to the issuer's name. "Silly."

"...oh." His face goes a little red.

Kirlia walks over, taking the job off the board. "You are certain you want this one?"

Sparky nods. "I have no problem with it. It seems easy."

"Alright then." She folds up the paper, offering it to them. "Take this so you know the details of which floor they should be on, and remember to use your badges to send them back here to safety."

Ember salutes. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Should we get going now?" the Shinx asks.

"Of course! Come on!" The Vulpix runs straight for the ladder, scrambling up it with Sparky not far behind.

Kirlia just smiles, laughing to herself as she heads back down to her rock.

* * *

As the two members of Team X approach the entrance to the cave, Sparky continues to read over the paper detailing their assignment. "So they're apparently on the very bottom floor of this cave..." He sighs. "Of course they are."

"Well, it's not a very bad dungeon, right?" Ember remains upbeat when faced with the beginning of the cave. "Besides, this is what we do now."

"I guess so." Putting the paper away, he starts descending into the cave. "I assume this is a mystery dungeon as well?"

"Probably." She shrugs as they walk. "I don't actually know of any dungeons that _aren't_ mystery ones…"

Sparky looks around. "It's pretty calm so far, at least..."

"Yep…" Ember scans around them. "Good old rooms and tunnels." Digging in their bag, she comes up with a piece of paper and a pen. "We should probably try and keep a map of the floors when we're on them so we don't just end up wandering in circles. I'm kind of surprised that didn't happen yesterday, I don't know what we were thinking."

Noticing the stairs to the next floor, Sparky leads the way over. "It was a small cave, I guess. Or we got lucky."

"I'll take luck whenever I can get it, as long as it's good luck." As they enter the next floor, she continues. "And keep your eye out for anythign we can pick up. You never know when it'll be useful."

For the next hour or so, the two continue to travel through the dungeon, soon coming across some actual hostile Pokémon. Most of them are Water-types, which highly entertains Sparky as he makes good use of his Electric-type attacks. Ember is not so amused, having to rely on her Normal and Dark attacks while avoiding getting soaked.

"Happy you met me now?" Sparky asks with a cheeky grin after they've just gone down another staircase.

"I don't think I've ever said I wasn't." The fire fox takes her mind off her few wet tails by sorting through their bag, smiling at the items she's managed to pick up.

The Shinx looks over. "Found some good stuff?"

Cheering up, she nods. "I like to think so. We've got… some Sleep Seeds, a See-Trap Orb, some berries, an apple… oh, hey, what's that?" She darts forward in the next room, coming back with a small pink scarf. "I think this is a Zinc Band. We can wear this and it helps us fight!"

Sparky chuckles. "You take it. No offense, but I think you need it considering where we are right now." He looks around to make sure nothing's coming in to interrupt then.

"Yeah, plus I think I pull off pink better than you." Sitting down, she works to get the band on one of her tails.

"Probably," he agrees. "Let me know if you find something in yellow." Standing up, he tackles an incoming Krabby to the ground and electrocutes it.

She watches this as she finishes tying the band to the tip of a tail. "Well, aren't you my sparking knight? Thank you."

He walks back over, trying to brush down the fur on his foreleg. "We should probably get moving again soon. More will be coming if they heard that."

"Right." She nods, determined as she stands and heads after him. Still, she stops to pick up a few rocks on the way out of the room. "Never know what could be useful…"

They continue along without any breaks for another while, the Water-types becoming less frequent as they go deeper into the cave. Instead, they have to deal with a few more Rock-types, which cause trouble for them both. One particularly vicious Geodude causes a small avalanche of rocks that almost crushes them, catching Sparky by the leg despite their dodging attempts.

"Sparky!" Ember launches a Feint Attack at the Geodude before bee-lining for her friend. "I gotcha, don't worry." She starts pushing the rocks off him, lifting what ones she can but just rolling the others.

Eventually, the Shinx's leg is free, and he tries to stand up with a yelp. "Th-thanks..." He tries to keep as much of his weight as he can off of his left hindleg, the rest of his legs shaking a bit.

"Is it bad?" The Vulpix peeks at his leg in concern.

"Uh..." He looks back at it as well. "I have no clue...it hurts a lot, though."

She brings the bag up. "Here, maybe I have something… ah, here we have one Oran Berry." Digging it out quickly, she puts it in front of his mouth.

He picks it up in his teeth and starts chewing on it. Once he swallows, he hesitantly puts his leg back down, wincing as it hits the ground. "Ow...okay, I think I can walk on it..."

She frowns, putting her side against his. "If you start bleeding, I can't be held responsible for what I do. Let's get this mission done and get you to a Chansey."

"Right." He slowly relaxes onto his leg until he feels more comfortable with it, and then they head off.

* * *

Heading down yet another flight of stairs, though slowly and more carefully than before the Geodude incident, the duo descend into another cavern. This one though, has something unique about it. Namely, the Venonat running around in a panic as a Poliwag bounces after it, shooting it repeatedly in the back.

"I think that's the guy we were sent down here to find," Ember says, checking the paper they were given. "Yep, Venonat."

Sparky nods, and with one quick but powerful jolt of electricity, he puts the Poliwag down for the count. "See if you can calm him down."

Watching the Bug-type's movements, Ember does a little dance until she finally corners him. Putting a paw on his shoulder, she keeps him still. "Hey, calm down. We're here to get you out."

Seeing the Venonat calm down only enough to stay still, Sparky limps over. "Use the badge to get him out. Then we can leave too."

"Right…" She points her badge at him, shaking it a bit. "How do I make it…" A sudden beam of light engulfes the pokemon, sending him upwards through the ceiling. "Oh."

"Finally," the Electric-type mutters. He pulls out his own badge. "Now let's get out of here before the oran berry wears off."

Beams of light shine down on them both, floating them up and out as their vision turns white. When it comes back, they find themselves back in the board room of the guild. The Venonat they rescued jumps happily as it sees them, a Venomoth floating next to it.

"You must be the exploration team that found Venonat!" the Venomoth says upon seeing the two. "Thank you so much for your help!"

"You're welcome," Ember says politely, still keeping one eye on her partner.

Sensing that something is wrong, the Venomoth makes his business quick. As promised on the paper asking for help, he gives the two a pile of coins, and in addition, a yellow bow. Once finished with that, he and the Venonat leave the guild to head back home.

Meanwhile, the Vulpix leans against her friend's side once more. "Okay, now let's get you fixed up… and I swear if you try and be all macho and say it's nothing, I will hit you… after I drag you there to get better anyway."

Sparky sighs. "No complaints from me. Lead the way." He leans against her, keeping weight off his bad leg. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Ember's face is determined. "Every guild has a Chansey… we just have to find her."

Finding her is actually the easy part. No sooner had another member spotted them when they were whisked away to her clinic on the main floor. The nurse Pokémon turns to them as they enter. "Another pair fresh from a dungeon, hmm?"

"Yes ma'am, and he needs help badly." Ember indicates her friend.

Sparky motions to his leg. "It got caught under a Geodude's Rock Slide...I don't know how bad it is."

"Well then, let's take a look." Without further ado, the pink nurse scoops both of them up, Ember clinging to the Shinx. Bringing them over to a padded bed and setting them down, Chansey looks the male in the face. "Now try not to move, alright?"

He nods, looking a little nervous. He holds onto his friend for security.

Smiling at the two cute patients, the nurse gently takes his leg and starts to feel it to find what's wrong. While at first in her career, a patient might have complained while she did this, her touch has gotten much softer since then, to where it's more of a breeze than anythign as she searches for what ails them.

She nods as she lets go. "Well, it's not terrible, but your leg is in fact, broken."

Ember gasps. Sparky's mouth hangs open for a moment before he speaks. "How...how is that 'not terrible'?!"

"For one thing, you're still conscious. For another, it's not a compound fracture. The bone is simply cracked, though had you continued walking on it, it could have gotten much worse." She has somehow mastered the art of delivering blunt information with a sort of sincere hopefulness in her voice. "Not to worry, I can fix it." Turning, she goes over to her cabinets, opening them and rummaging around.

Sparky looks at his leg with a new sort of fear in his eyes. "I really hope so..." Worried, he clutches Ember tighter. Worried for him, she does the same, though avoids his leg.

Turning back around, the Chansey brings a few things over: a jar of slightly thick red goop, a large roll of bandages, a metal rod, and lastly, she pops the egg out of her pouch, setting it on the table in front of them as well. "Alright then, Mr. Shinx, if you would stretch your leg out straight for me."

Nodding, he does so, wincing the whole time. Once he has it out straight, he shuts his eyes and waits.

"Now just hold it there…" Chansey touches the top of the egg, the oval object raising up off the table as it glows. Suddenly, it pops, a golden light showering over both pokemon on the table. "Nothing like a good Soft-boil to do a bit of healing." Strangely enough, another egg is already in the nurse's pouch, though when it had gotten there is anyone's guess. She immediately sets the rod next to the limb before beginning to bandage it at a blurring speed.

Surprised at the speed, Sparky watches for several seconds before she finishes, a full leg cast now around the limb. "Whoah..."

Smiling, the nurse pokemon pats the limb. "Now, the egg should have jump-started the healing process, but you still need to wear this for a day or two so things can set properly." Her pink arm waggles in front of his nose. "No stressing it. Trust me, I'll know if you did."

"R-Right...thank you." He sighs in relief, finding the leg to not hurt as badly now.

"Now then." She suddenly turns to the Vulpix, who partially hides behind Sparky at the sudden movement. "I have two doctor's orders for you, little miss. The first is to keep an eye on your little electric friend here and make sure he doesn't hurt himself more."

Ember nods silently.

"Secondly," she offers the jar of red goop, "take a spoonful of this every two hours you're awake for the next day. It's concentrated Cheri Berry. You look like you've been on the receiving end of too many water attacks. While it doesn't do anything permanent, someone of your age shouldn't exactly be dealing with that without a bit of rekindling afterwards. This should ensure you stay perfectly healthy instead of lacking energy."

"Oh." The Fire-type takes the jar. "Well, thank you, ma'am."

Sparky sighs. "I guess we're out of the exploring game for a while?"

"Just for a day or two," Chansey replies. "I know how badly the guild wants to explore, so I try to speed things up as much as possible. However, that does not mean I'm going to tell you to go anywhere near a dungeon until you are healed." She pats his head. "It'll be fine. You're new, so there's plenty to explore around the guild or just things to do around town while you wait."

"Guess so..." He looks to his friend to see how she reacts to the news. Ember doesn't say anything, simply nodding and holding both him and the jar close.

Chansey smiles. "Alright then." She picks them up once more, bringing them to her door. "If you have any problems, just come back or otherwise send someone to come fetch me. Remember: take it easy."

"Thank you, ma'am." Ember manages to awkwardly wave with one leg while her other maintains the hug she and Sparky have shared for she doesn't even know how long.

Once they leave, Sparky finally notices how close they're staying and awkwardly releases her. "S-Sorry about that..."

"Why?" She asks sincerely, tiling her head. "I hugged you first."

"Yeah, but I kept holding on." He sighs. "Never mind. It just felt awkward."

Huffing, she walks faster ahead of him. "... I liked the hug."

He blinks and tries to catch up to her, though his leg makes it difficult. "I didn't mean I didn't like it..."

Letting him catch up, she looks to him out of the corner of her eye. "Then what did you mean?"

"Just...I wasn't sure how you felt about it, so I wasn't sure whether to keep it going or what..." He trails off, sighing again. "I don't know."

Sighing, she stops as they reach the door to their den. Turning, she gives him a quick hug. "Silly."

A little taken aback, he hesitates before smiling and hugging back. "Hope I didn't make you angry..."

"You didn't." She opens their door, leading him inside. "Now come on, I don't want you getting hurt more." She sets the jar of goop by her bed.

Nodding, he steps inside carefully. "So...what are we gonna do the next couple of days now?"

Shrugging, she opens the jar as she thinks. "We could… see if there's anything good to stock up on in the shop, explore the guild, give you that tour of town I promised… we might have to wing it at some point." Taking a pawful of the goop, she sticks it in her mouth, sucking for a moment before it comes back out clean. She blinks rapidly as her tails actually uncurl and stick straight out. This all lasts for a few seconds before she suddenly bounces back to her usual look, panting. "Wow, that has some kick!"

Sparky chuckles. "Heading to the shop sounds good. Maybe we can sell some of the stuff we picked up that we don't have a use for." He tilts his head. "Speaking of which, what all did we pick up?"

"A little bit of everything." She upturns the bag, letting the contents fall out onto a pile. "I think this Zinc Band on my tail was the rarest thing, but between the seeds, Wonder Orbs, and some rocks I thought we could throw if the time came, I think we had a pretty decent haul. Ooh, gummi!" She pops the red chewy treat into her mouth. "You have dibs on the next one of those we find."

He rolls his eyes playfully. "Thanks." He pokes at the Wonder Orbs and narrows his eyes, picking one up. "Hail Orb...ugh. I hate these things."

"Huh?" She looks to him, confused. "Why do you say that?"

He pauses before blinking. "...I don't know." He stares at the orb for a moment longer before putting it down. "I just get a bad feeling from it."

"Well, I guess hail does kind of hurt…" She thinks. "Maybe you just got on the receiving end of some before?"

"Maybe." He shrugs, but then thinks for a moment. "...but nobody ever really uses Wonder Orbs outside of dungeons, right? I mean, it's not like they have a practical use in everyday life..."

"True… I have no idea then." She moves on to another piece of loot, smiling as she picks it up. "Hey, you did say you wanted something yellow, right?" She waves the bow at him.

He makes a face. "I'd prefer something actually meant for guys."

"But yellow isn't my colour, and you need to get something from this adventure." She waves it more insistently at him.

"I am not wearing a bow in my hair," he states defiantly. "I already have a cast after my first assignment. I don't need something else calling unwanted attention to myself."

"Fine…" She sighs, looking down at the mass of bandages. "Can I write on your cast then?"

Blinking, he looks confused, before smiling. "Sure."

Quickly grabbing a pen, she scribbles onto his cast before backing up and smiling. Her addition reads as such: 'Ember's Spark Knight'.

The Shinx reads it over and chuckles, smirking at her. "'Spark Knight', hm? Does that make you my princess?"

The Vulpix blinks, her tails swishing. A small blush comes to her cheeks as she speaks. "Well… I _am_ a proper lady…"

Before Sparky can reply, the ringing of a bell reaches their ears. He blinks. "What's that?"

Ember's ears twitch. "That must be the dinner bell." She walks over to him. "You do need extra nutrients to heal, you know."

He nods. "Yeah, I know." He stands up, wincing a bit. "Think you can lead me again, please?"

"Of course." She props up his side with her own. "Silly."

"Thanks." He smiles and, using her to lean on, they head out.


	7. Chapter 6: Gardevoir

Ember slips back into the room, her padded feet making no noise as she creeps over to Sparky's bed. Looking down at the still sleeping Shinx, she smiles. Leaning down, she gently nudges him with her head. "Wakey wakey… I have a surprise for you."

Sparky groans, going about his usual wake-up routine of rubbing at his eyes and trying to sit up. "It's too early..." He yawns, it not occurring to his groggy mind that he's actually slept in compared to previous mornings. Finally, he manages to get his eyes to open.

Grinning down at him is the foxy face of his partner. "Sorry, I would have let you sleep in more, but they only serve breakfast for so long." She pulls a bowl of mixed berries and fruits off her back, setting it in front of him. "Here you go, breakfast in bed."

"Huh?" He looks down at the food in surprise, his tail flicking. "Oh, um...th-thanks..." He gives an awkward little smile, unsure of the proper way to respond.

"No problem. Go ahead and try it." She grins back, her own tails flicking.

Nodding a bit, he leans down to the bowl and takes a small bite of the berries. He sighs in relief as he starts filling a belly he didn't realize was empty.

She giggles. "Glad you like it. Be sure to eat it all so you get better, okay?"

He chuckles. "I will. Thanks again for this, Ember." He takes another, larger bite.

Smiling at him, she nods before heading into the bathroom to get cleaned up while he eats.

* * *

Ember and Sparky stand in front of a large purple stand, the Sableye owner smiling at them with his pointed teeth and watching them with unblinking jewel eyes. He nods, putting the small bag of gold away. "Yesss… your wealth will be quite safe here, I assure you…"

The Electric-type nods, smiling back nervously. "A-Awesome...thanks." He quickly leads his friend away, shivering.

The fox looks at him, head tilted. "Was it really that bad?"

"Ghost-types just kind of creep me out. Especially the ones that are always happy." He shivers again and shakes his head. "Let's move on..."

"Okay… if it helps, you'll actually get more comfortable with him as time goes on. At least that's how it was for me." Staying against his side, she motions forward. "Maybe you'll like this next place better. The storage!"

A few minutes and one trip to the aforementioned facility later, Ember turns to Sparky. "So, were you worried about that shopkeeper, too?"

"Not really..." He shakes his head. "Though I'm a little hesitant about going to get our stuff _back_ later."

She tilts her head. "Why? Swalot's nice, he's not gonna deny you your stuff or anything."

"He just seemed a little eager to take it...especially the food items." Sparky takes a deep breath. "Best to not think about it."

"You're just paranoid… and making me think gross things." She nudges him slightly. "Well, if you get a bad feel from these next two, I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

He tilts his head. "What's next?"

"The store," she says simply, leading him onward. They arrive next at a very festive looking stall, the two proprietors standing side by side. One is a normal Delibird, and the other is his Shiny equivalent.

The normal Delibird looks up and smiles. "Greetings, explorers of the guild! How may we assist you today?"

Sparky looks surprised and glances to Ember. "How do they know we're from the guild?"

As she opens her mouth, the purple pokemon answers. "It's a natural assumption. Most Pokémon don't walk around so casually on injuries like that. Well, and of course we can see your badges."

"Yeah, so now you know one reason they have never been stolen from." The fire fox giggles. "They see everything."

Looking a little embarrassed, the Shinx steps back to let his friend take care of business. The red Delibird chuckles and looks to the Vulpix. "What may we help you with, miss?"

"Yes, I was hoping to get some prices on some things we found…" Grabbing her bag, she and the shopkeeper start to talk specifics.

After a few minutes, they seem to have worked out a deal, the Vulpix trading in several of their collected items from the last dungeon and the Delibird exchanging them for several gold coins.

As the transaction happens, Sparky looks to the other Delibird. "So, um...what do you do?"

Smiling at his potential customer, the sack-bearing avian answers. "I, little electric one, am the one to handle the rarer goods that pass through our shops, both selling and buying. My stock tends to change often, and is expensive, but I doubt you'll find it anywhere else."

Sparky blinks. "Rarer goods? Um...do you think you could try and identify something I have, then?" He reaches back, taking out the blue stone he found back in Ariados's den and holding it up to him. "I can't tell what it is, and neither can Ember."

"Hmm… let me see…" Bringing out a set of tools not unlike a jeweler's, the Delibird gently takes the stone and give it a good look. After a few minutes and every possible test he can think of, the shopkeeper looks flummoxed as he hands it back. "I must admit, that is quite the find you have there. The fact that I don't know what it is certainly makes it unique. If I had even an inkling of it's nature I would buy it for a high price, but as of this moment…" he shrugs, "I'm afraid I have no clue what it is."

The Shinx stares at the stone as he takes it back, surprised and a little disappointed. "Oh...well, thanks for trying anyway." He sighs, putting it away. "I don't know if I'd want to sell it anyway. For some reason, I don't like the idea of parting with it..."

"Perhaps you and it are connected in some way; maybe it simply resonates with your kind, or just with you yourself." The shiny smiles. "Such things are rare, but not unheard of, and they always have an interesting story. I look forward to perhaps one day hearing yours."

Sparky smiles. "I'll be sure to tell you it if I ever figure it out myself." He puts the stone away.

Ember watches the two talking, waiting patiently for her friend. "Ready to go?"

He nods. "I think so." He turns back to the shopkeepers and waves. "Thanks, Delibird and...um...Delibird."

They wave back. "Call us Cash and Credit if you get confused. It makes things easier!"

Ember shakes her head as they walk away. Once they get to a little section of street alone, she stops. "Hey, I got you something while we were at the shop." She offers him a small blue present she was hiding. "It is what you wanted, after all."

The Electric-type blinks in surprise as he takes the box. "Huh?" Curious, he opens it up. Inside isn't some grand present, but instead a simple yellow scarf. He smiles nonetheless as he pulls it out. "Um...thanks, Ember...you didn't have to buy this..."

"Maybe, but I did." She giggles, her six tails swishing, the pink band on one. "I thought you could use a little something."

Still smiling, he carefully wraps the scarf around his neck. "Heh...I like it. It's comfy." After a second, he pulls her into a hug. "Thanks again..."

Smiling softly, she hugs back. "You're welcome… be sure to keep it clean, ok?"

He chuckles. "Of course. Can't let a gift like this get dirty." He releases the hug, a little reluctantly.

Her tails still wagging, the fox giggles more. "Oh, and just in case you get ideas… my favourite color is blue but pink also looks good on me, no greens or oranges. The first clashes and I have enough of the second already." One of her paws comes up and bats one of his ears lightly.

The Shinx rolls his eyes playfully. "I don't even have money to get you any accessories with. We only got about a hundred Poké each from our first mission once the guild took their cut, and I didn't hoard items to sell like you did." He nudges her.

"Everything can be useful," she restates proudly. "Even if it's just to sell. Half of it was yours though, you know; you only had to ask."

He shakes his head. "You took care of all the bartering, and besides, I don't have a use for money right now anyway." He pauses, raising an eyebrow at nothing in particular.

Ember tilts her head. "Something wrong?" She straightens his scarf a bit as she asks.

"Did you hear that?" he replies, looking around. "It sounded like someone laughing..."

"Huh?" Looking around, she replies. "We're the only ones here…"

His ears flick as he stops. "There it is again...it's getting clo-" He cuts himself off with a grunt, shutting his eyes and grabbing his head with a paw.

"Hey!" She's over by his side in an instant, holding him. "What's wrong? Tell me!"

For several seconds, he doesn't speak, staying perfectly still with his paw against his head and his eyes shut. Suddenly, he lets out a cry and falls backwards into a sitting position, eyes opening wide in fear. He looks around in a panic.

"Careful, you'll hurt yourself!" Ember stands over him, eyes showing how worried she is. "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know..." the Shinx replies, slowly calming down. "I got a headache...and then I saw something happening. I don't know if it was a dream, or what..."

"Woah woah, slow down…" Putting a paw to his head, she hums thoughtfully. "No fever… might not be delusional. What did you see?"

He thinks. "There were two Pokémon arguing over something...one of them threw something, and they started fighting..." He groans. "Now I can't remember!"

"Oh dear…" Pulling him up, she hugs him softly. "It's okay, don't worry. Maybe we can… get you some professional help."

He hugs back. "I don't think Chansey does brain analyzing..."

"No… but maybe there's a Psychic-type around town that does." Her voice is still tinged with worry. "Think you're up for walking yet?"

"I think so..." He nods. "My head still hurts a bit, but the rest of me is fine."

Her eyes narrow as she helps him up. "Alright… but if you give me one more scare I will see you bed-ridden until cleared by a professional."

Sparky gives her a look. "Ember, I'm remaining calm right now and _I'm_ the one who got that vision. You have no right to be scared." Nevertheless, he manages a small smile, albeit a weak one.

She growls at him, probably not meaning for it to sound as cute as it does. "You are my friend, I will be scared for you, and you will not stop me. Now march, mister!"

Rolling his eyes, he follows her command, moving forward and following her. "So, pardon my ignorance, but where are we going to find a Psychic-type who's gonna take time out of their day to scan the brain of a potentially delusional Shinx?"

"Umm…" Ember slows down. "I have no idea… wait, no… I have one idea."

* * *

Kirlia blinks, surprise clear on her normally controlled face. "Do you two always have something interesting going on, even on your recovery days?"

"Apparently so," Sparky answers with a shrug. "Comes with the territory of being an amnesiac on an exploration team."

"Indeed." Her composure returns as she continues. "In any case, I'm afraid I cannot perform the service you need… however, my sister can."

"Well, can we go see her? We need to make sure Sparky is okay!" Ember prances in place with nervous energy.

Kirlia nods. "Of course, just follow me. She lives on the other side of town…"

The three quickly, or as quickly as allowed when one of them is wearing a cast, make the journey. They end up in front of a house that distinguishes itself from those around it by being a perfect white sphere with only a door to mark the fact it is an abode.

Kirlia strolls up to the door with no hesitance, her eyes glowing blue as she simply stands there. After a moment, she turns to the other two. "She's coming."

Rather than the door opening, there is a brief flash of a soft light, and then in front of them is suddenly a Gardevoir. She looks down at the three shorter Pokémon with a small smile. "Hello again, sister. Who are your friends?" Her voice, unlike her sister's, seems to travel directly into their thoughts instead of even partially from her mouth.

"Guild trainees. One of them had a slight… well, they were not able to give specifics, but his friend would like to make sure his mind is intact," the pre-evolution explains.

"I just said I wanted to make sure he's okay… I didn't say he was crazy…" Ember mutters.

Sparky raises a paw. "I wouldn't blame anyone who did."

Gardevoir puts a green hand to her chin and kneels down to the Shinx's height. "Aside from the cast, I do not see anything wrong with him...but if you say this is a problem with his mind, it may be more difficult to find out." She stands up and holds her arm behind her, the door to her house swinging open on its own. "Come inside, please."

As the two quadrupeds go in, Kirlia speaks once more. "I must return to the guild, but I wish you luck, with both my sister and your condition."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'good luck with her'?" The fire fox turns around only to find that their guild member has already teleported. "... is that considered rude?"

Sparky shrugs. "Honestly, right now all I want to know is what's going on with my head."

Gardevoir nods, leading the two into a small room with little other than a couple of makeshift chairs made from wood and stone. "That is what we're going to find out. Please have a seat, both of you."

They sit, Ember right next to Sparky. The Shinx looks up at her. "So...what are you going to do?"

"It's very simple," she replies with a smile. "I'm going to cut your head open and get a firsthand look at your brain to find the problem, and then sew you back together."

The Vulpix's mouth drops open just before she grabs her petrified friend and holds him close as she hisses at the Psychic-type.

Gardevoir giggles. "I'm joking, I'm joking. I'm not going to do anything like that." She regains her composure and speaks again. "I've been experimenting with alternate uses for moves recently. Since I have no use for them in combat, I've been looking for more practical uses. For a case like this, I can attempt to search your friend's memories through a combination of Dream Eater and Miracle Eye."

Still holding onto him, Ember tries to understand this. "So… you do that, and you interpret what he saw?"

She nods. "I will be able to see his memories exactly within whatever field of time I choose, including any visions such as this one. All I need to know is when he had this vision, and then I can begin."

"Oh, it was like…" The Fire-type looks to her friend. "What do you think, like thirty minutes ago?"

"Um..." He thinks. "I'd say go for an hour to be safe. I didn't really keep track of time..."

Gardevoir nods again. "An hour, then. However, I will need you to be asleep for this." She kneels down and looks him in the eyes. For a second, neither of them move nor blink, before the Shinx flops down against his friend, eyes closed.

Ember gives the taller Pokémon a flat look. "You aren't big on warnings, are you?"

The Psychic-type looks back at her. "Hypnosis is easier to resist when forewarned, even if you don't necessarily try to. If I told him what I was going to do, we'd have been staring at each other for a few minutes."

"Fair enough…" One of her paws absentmindedly strokes his head as he leans against her. "So this won't hurt him, right?"

"Not physically," Gardevoir replies. "He might have a bit of a rough sleep while I go about this because I have to use Dream Eater to get inside his mind, but that's a small price to pay." She puts a hand on his forehead and closes her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me..." She goes quiet, and soon Ember is the only fully conscious being left in the room.

The fire fox lets her eyes roam around the room and the other two occupants. This lasts for a few seconds before she deadpans, "Yep. Bored." Curling her tails around her electric friend, she settles against him, closing her own eyes for a quick nap.

* * *

After several minutes, Gardevoir opens her eyes, finding herself back in her own home. She looks to the sleeping quadrupeds on the seat and smiles, before frowning and starting to shake the Vulpix. "Wake up, you."

Snorting, Ember quickly opens her eyes. "Huh? What? What'd I miss?"

"An outlaw Houndoom came rampaging through and burned the town down," Gardevoir responds dryly. "In all seriousness, I was able to see the vision that your friend saw. It was...certainly eventful."

Quirking an eyebrow, the Fire-type snarks back. "Town burning eventful?"

"Not quite, but definitely potential criminal activity eventful," the taller Pokémon replies with complete sincerity. "I'm not sure why he saw it, but if it's real, we may have a large problem to deal with."

"What happened?" she asks. "Do you think it had something to do with why he can't remember anything?"

"I don't think they're connected, no," Gardevoir answers as she stands up. "As for what happened…" She closes her eyes. "I believe it was in a mystery dungeon, or perhaps just an ordinary cave. There were two Pokémon, a Banette and a Dustox. They were arguing with each other, but I could not properly make it out; aside from them, there was a third Pokémon I could not see, and all three of them were talking at once."

"Okay…" Not hearing anything interesting yet, Ember waits for more.

"Then, I suppose the Banette got tired of arguing, and tried to fight instead." She looks away. "They threw some sort of a rock at the Dustox...and I don't know how, but the Dustox...burst into flames."

"Woah. That's not good…" The fox states. "Wait, to clarify, you mean actually burst into flames, not just… set on fire?"

Gardevoir sighs. "Set on fire, yes. Apologies for my attempts at dramatics." She waves a hand dismissively. "Anyway, after that, the Dustox flew away, dropping something as it went. But the vision ended before I, and I assume your friend, could properly identify what it was." Her eyes narrow. "What worries me...is that I know that Banette."

"Oh?" Ember leans forward.

"Banette - or that particular one, at least - is a wanted outlaw. Not a high-ranking one, mind you, but he's still managed to avoid getting caught for several months now." She frowns. "I don't know why he was arguing with that Dustox and that third voice, but it can't be good. Especially if it ended the way it did."

"Mmm hmm…" The Vulpix nods. "But… why would Sparky have a vision about that?"

"That, I could not figure out." Gardevoir sighs. "Perhaps he was simply able to sense something was wrong. Perhaps it was a vision sent to him by another Psychic-type. I could not tell for myself how it happened."

"So… did it do anything to him damaging besides the pain of it happening?" Her paw rubs his head again.

The Psychic-type hesitates before answering this. "...there was nothing else _damaging_, per se...but, well...you mentioned that he could not remember anything?"

"Yes…" Ember says slowly, wondering where she's going with this.

"Well...he may have remembered a bit now," Gardevoir says. "When I started observing his memories from about an hour before, he was looking at an odd blue rock...and at that moment, I felt as though a part of his mind opened." Glancing down, she sees the Shinx starting to stir. "I will leave it up to you if you wish to press the matter with him."

The fire fox watches as he wakes. "Hey… how are you feeling?"

He groans. "Tired..." He tries to sit up, but gives up and lets himself slump against her. "Worst nap ever..."

"That would be because of the Dream Eater," Gardevoir tells him. "I apologize, but it was necessary."

Sparky yawns. "I'm more tired after sleeping than I was before..." He rests his head on the Vulpix's back, looking ready to drift off again.

Looking to the Psychic-type, Ember giggles sheepishly. "Thanks for all your help, ma'am. I think I need to get him back to bed now, though."

"My pleasure," she responds with a small smile. "I hope things work out for you both. Come back to me if you ever need anything like this again."

"Right..." Sparky rubs his eyes and forces himself to stand up. "Like Ember said, thanks for helping." He looks to the Vulpix. "Can we head back to the guild now, please?"

"Sure, come on, you can lean on me." She hops off the couch, positioning herself next to him.

The Shinx happily leans against her, using her for support. Gardevoir, trying to suppress a giggle, leads them to the door and waves goodbye as they head out.

"Think you can manage to not get hurt tomorrow in some way?" Ember ask teasingly.

"It'd be a new record," he mutters. "I make no promises despite my best efforts."

"Hey." She goes to bat his ear with a paw only to realize she needs it to walk. She settles for a head nudge. "I'm not trying to get you down, I'm just saying I don't like you hurt."

"Trust me, I don't like me hurt either." He chuckles. "I just mean that ever since I woke up, I haven't gone a single full day without some sort of injury."

"Yeah… I need to fix that… I just have no idea how." She shrugs.

He just yawns. "Right now, keeping me from walking into anything is probably a good idea." He laughs a bit.

"Well, maybe talking will help." She keeps her eyes ahead as they walk. "Anything on your mind?"

"Bed and warmth is about it." He chuckles. "Can't wait until we can go exploring again, though..."

"Good to hear." She giggles. "I would think I'd be plenty warm for you, though."

"I meant warmth while in bed. They go hand-in-hand." He smirks. "Unless you're offering to share beds tonight?"

"Well, we don't exactly have a hot water bottle…" Her tails swish against him.

He chuckles, noticing the guild come into view. "It'd be a poor replacement anyway."

"Aww… aren't you a charmer?" Ember finds herself giggling more.

"Am I? I don't even know right now." He lets out another yawn. "Sorry. Guess I'm really tired...not thinking before I speak...stuff's just coming out."

"Well, as long as it stays sweet words, you can keep going." She awkwardly helps him down the ladder.

"I dunno...I think I've used up everything I can think of right now." He either ignores or doesn't notice the odd looks they're getting. "Maybe I should just shut up."

"You're fine… come on, we're almost there." She leads him down the tunnel to their den. "Just a little more, and you can flop down in your nest."

Nodding but still sticking to his temporary vow of silence, the Shinx continues to walk with her, almost missing the turn that leads to their room. Once inside, he starts to make for his bed. "Thanks, Ember..."

As he lays down in it, she plops down next to him, snuggling into the small space. "You're welcome, silly."

Chuckling, he snuggles back against her. "I'd say goodnight, but it's still just afternoon..."

Closing her eyes, she sighs happily. "Sweet dreams works."

"Sweet dreams, then." He smiles, his eyes closing as well. It takes almost no time for him to drift off to sleep.

She soon joins him, her tail curling around his single one as she breathes slower and slower.


	8. Chapter 7: Ghost of the Past?

Despite normally preferring to sleep in, the extra nap the previous day along with the early bedtime causes Sparky to wake up well over an hour before the normal time. As he rubs his eyes, he notices a warm body pressed against him, and glances beside himself to see Ember still asleep. Smiling, he slowly tries to shift himself out of bed without jostling her too much.

Feeling the pressure she had been against all night moving, Ember subconsciously scoots closer. Her vulpine head nuzzles against him, smiling contently.

Sighing, the Shinx starts to realize how difficult this is going to be. He tries to push himself away without moving her too much, though the feat is made almost impossible due to his limited mobility. Still, he eventually slides out of the blanket nest, the Vulpix wrapping her tail around herself at his absence before sleeping on.

Sparky sighs again, this time in relief, and heads to the bathroom to get ready for the day. His leg feels significantly better, but unless Chansey says otherwise, he knows it'll be another day at least before he can begin exploring again. He can't help but feel bad, knowing that his partner had wanted to join an exploration team for this long, and now after only one assignment, she had to wait even longer just for him.

As if knowing she is being thought about, the little Fire-type rolls over onto her back. A tiny sneeze escapes her, a small wisp of flame shooting up before she settles into her new position.

Once he's done taking care of business, Sparky comes back out into the bedroom, finding the Vulpix still asleep. Chuckling, he sits beside her, patiently waiting for her to wake.

Eventually, she starts shifting again, her grey eyes opening. Blinking, she looks around, spotting him. "How come… you're watching me sleep… instead of joining me?"

He smiles. "I'm already wide awake. Just waiting on you now."

"Oh…" Slowly rolling over and out of the nest, the little fox shakes her head then her rump as she wakes up. "Okay, that was nice of you…"

Sparky chuckles. "Thought you'd appreciate the extra time to sleep. Once my leg's better, I doubt the guild will let us sleep in anymore."

"Maybe…" She stretches, yawning. "At least we go to bed at a decent time."

He nods, standing up. "Should we head off now? I can't think of anything to do today, but staying cooped up in here doesn't sound that fun."

Looking at him calmly, she lightly swipes all six of her tails across his nose. "Silly, a lady needs to get ready in the mornings."

"Right." He rubs his nose, then his neck. "Well, I'll wait for you out by the boards, okay? Take your time." He smirks. "Then again, you usually do."

She smirks back. "I don't ever hear you complaining about how I look for taking my time."

His cheeks go red at this, and he quietly walks out of the room, stumbling a bit on the way. "Uh...I'll see you in a bit."

She blinks as he leaves, tilting her head as she speaks to herself. "Did I actually get him to blush? Hmm…" She smile is sly as she saunters into the bathroom.

* * *

Ember enters the job room a bit later, her Zinc band around her neck with a cute bow in the back. Her usual straight bangs are also slightly curled to one side. She spots her friend looking at the wanted board and quickly walks over. "Anything interesting?"

He glances at her for a second before looking back at one poster near the bottom of the board. "New ones just went up...this guy..." He flicks the poster with a paw. One look reveals the poster to be of a D-Ranked outlaw; specifically, a Banette. "He looks...familiar."

The Vulpix narrows her eyes at him, but quickly looks to the wanted poster. "Hmm… wait, wasn't he one of the ones who was in your…" She looks at him again, this time in surprise.

"I think so." He looks at the bottom of the poster. "Apparently, he was seen near the town...in some place called the Skull Caves." He turns to her. "Ember...we need to find him."

Her ears fold back. "Are you sure? I mean… he's probably dangerous, and you are still recovering…"

"First off, he's a D-Rank. That's just barely above petty thieves who prefer to run rather than fight." He looks back at the poster. "Secondly, we need to figure out why I had that vision. And if he was in it, even if he doesn't know why, he's the best step forward we can take." He glances back at his injured leg and kicks it. "Besides, I'm feeling fine. Just a little sore."

"..." She is silent for a minute before nodding, determined. "Okay. Let's get him."

Sparky smiles and nods back at her, turning to go before pausing and looking back. He looks over her. "...did you do something different with yourself?"

The Vulpix smiles brightly. "Yes I did! Glad you noticed." She does a small pose. "Do you like it?"

"Uh..." He tries to figure out how to respond. "It looks...neat?"

She stands still for a moment before giggling. "Good enough of an answer. Come on then, with your leg we need to get started as early as possible."

He sighs in relief and nods. "Right. Let's go." He pulls the poster from the board, and they make their way out of the guild.

* * *

Skull Cave, as it turns out, was not named as such just to intimidate travelers. The inside was mostly populated with Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon, such as Murkrow and Gastly, with a few Poison and Psychic-types thrown into the mix. Despite having no true type advantage, Sparky is still able to take down a few opponents with his electric attacks before they can do any real damage; a blessing, given his damaged leg makes for a big target.

Ember, meanwhile, uses her Feint Attack to full effect on any Psychic or Dark-types they come across. While back to her usual fire and normal attacks for anything else, she nonetheless tries to shoulder most of the fighting in this dungeon, out of concern for her partner. A small glint in her eyes after the sixth enemy is also a bit telling as she finishes off another.

Sparky can't help but notice her aggressiveness, and during a small break, decides to bring it up. "You know, considering this guy is messing with my head and not yours, I would've expected _me_ to be the one charging through to find him."

She rounds on him, bounding over as her tails wag. "I'm not doing it for him, I'm doing it for the experience!" She giggles. "I feel… I don't know, I just feel so excited right now, like doing this dungeon is a real challenge; a real step towards my dream!" Her eyes sparkle as she looks upwards, grinning happily.

The Shinx blinks at this. "...I have no response to that. Except, uh...good for you?" He shrugs, a little confused.

Seeing this, she laughs nervously. "Sorry, I guess I just… feel really alive right now. I feel like… this is the sort of thing I was meant to do. Protect my friends, pursue mysteries, delve dungeons, find bad guys! It's just… energizing me."

He chuckles. "Well, if that's what makes you feel good, I won't argue." He stands up. "I think we're almost there, assuming he's still around. Promise me you won't tackle him before we try to get some answers?"

"I promise." She nods. "Plus… Tackle doesn't work on Ghost-types, silly."

"You know what I mean." He rolls his eyes and continues on.

"Maybe." She runs next to him, eyes peering around in the darkness. "I really hope this guy knows something about you."

"Same here." Noticing a Grimer coming up, Sparky braces himself for another fight. "But even if he doesn't, at least we caught an outlaw." He lets off a surge of electricity, only to miss, leaving him wide open to the Poison-type's Pound attack, which knocks him right off his feet.

Taking the opportunity, Ember fires her namesake at the exposed Pokémon. She follows it up with a tackle even as she inwardly grimaces as the bit of purple goop that sticks to her. Thankfully, it seems to be enough, and the Grimer collapses.

Rubbing his chest where he got hit, Sparky walks over. "You alright?"

Looking at him, she quirks an eyebrow as she tries to shake off a bit of the slime. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Maybe, but I know how fussy you are about your appearance." He sticks his tongue out with a smile.

"And I told you I can put that aside while we are on a mission." Her own tongue sticks back out at him smugly. "Kiss my tails, I win."

He makes a face. "I don't think I want to..."

She blinks. "It was just an expression...hey! But why not?" She narrows her eyes at him.

The Shinx groans. "Because they're too close to...never mind, moving on." He turns quickly and starts leading the way to the next hallway.

The suddenness of his departure makes her take a moment to catch up. "Hey, wait! You can't just change the subject like that!"

* * *

When they reach the bottom floor of the cave, they're surprised to find it completely empty. No Pokémon, no items, nothing at all.

Looking around, Ember's mouth drops open. "What? Nothing? Come on!"

Sparky narrows his eyes. "He might be hiding...keep your guard up." He raises his voice to call out. "Banette! We know you're here! We just want some answers!" Unable to add anything to that, the Vulpix simply stands ready, eyes darting around the cave.

As predicted, out of nowhere, a Shadow Ball attack explodes at the ground by their feet. Sparky jumps to the side, narrowly avoiding it.

Ember instead just holds a paw over her eyes, preventing the dirt thrown up from getting in them as she holds her ground. After a moment, she breathes a sudden jet of fire, clearing the air in front of her. "Not nice!"

As the air is cleared, she finds herself barely two inches away from the unblinking, grinning face of the Ghost-type they had come to find.

Yelping, she jumps back a good six feet or so, startled by the sudden appearance.

Banette smiles wider, if that were possible. "Exploration team...come to find me." He looks between the two. "They must be desperate to track me down if they sent two kids after me."

"We are not kids!" Ember stomps a paw, sending up a tiny puff of dust. "We are explorers who fought our way down here just to find you!"

Banette laughs quietly. "You're kids. Face it." He glances to Sparky, then back to the Vulpix. "Though...I thank you for locating my comrade."

The Shinx pauses, jaw dropping a bit. "Huh?"

She narrows her eyes. "What do you mean? Sparky just wanted to ask you some things."

"Oh, I know all about what Sparky wants to ask me." The Ghost-type floats over to the Shinx, hovering around him. "But I don't think I'm in the mood to answer." He flinches back as Sparky snaps at him.

"Answer anyway." The vulpine growls at him, wisps of fire coming from between her teeth.

"I don't know..." He hums in thought as he floats away. "Why answer questions coming from the Pokémon about to arrest me? I have the right to remain silent, you know."

"You also have the right to not resist and get your butt kicked," she counters.

"Touché." Banette sighs. "How about this. I'll answer your questions, but yours only." He gestures to Sparky, who still bristles with anger. "He already knows the answers to his own."

"Huh? No he doesn't…" She looks to her partner for confirmation of this. He shakes his head.

Banette giggles. "Maybe not anymore, but they're somewhere in his brain. I don't want to take away all the fun of uncovering them." He smirks at Ember. "I trust that my comrade will, eventually, uncover them on his own. Or with your help. Either way, my help is entirely unnecessary."

Narrowing her eyes back at him, the Vulpix asks him bluntly. "How do you know Sparky?"

"Let's just say one of his assignments took him to my hiding place, and we agreed to a little 'I scratch his back, he scratches mine' relationship until he got out. Not that his Scratch did anything, but you get what I mean." Banette laughs as though he just told the best joke ever.

She doesn't laugh. "Why would he make a deal with a criminal?"

"It is surprising what some will do..." He leans forward dramatically. "...when death is the alternative."

Sparky blinks. "What do you mean?"

"I said I would not answer your questions, comrade," Banette reminds him. "But I suppose that's a fair one. However, I myself don't know the answer. You never told me."

Wracking her brain, Ember fails to come up with anything else. "Ugh… I didn't know what he wanted to ask you, so I don't know what else to say… will you come quietly?"

The Ghost-type laughs. "Not yet, Vulpix. Believe me, being on the run is no fun, but it will be a little longer before I can let myself be dragged in to be 'brought to justice'." There's a glint in his eyes. "However...if you two would be willing to assist me, I will gladly let you take me in at the end."

She raises an eyebrow, never having heard of a Pokémon that didnt just fight, get beat, then get brought in. "Assist with what?"

"Dustox." Banette's wide grin, for the first time, folds down into an angered frown. "Help me find him."

"...why?" she asks, suspicion clear in her voice.

"We were partners once...until he betrayed me." He growls. "He took what was mine, and tried to lie his way out of it. And he still lives free, not even a wanted outlaw like I am." His eyes narrow. "I _will_ have my revenge, before I see myself behind bars."

"Oh, so he's another criminal that needs to be brought in…" Ember rubs her chin with a paw. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea. Sparky? Thoughts?"

The Shinx sighs. "I was hoping for more direct answers, not another assignment." He looks to the Ghost-type. "I assume this is the same Dustox I saw in that vision?"

For the first time, Banette appears confused. "Vision?"

"I had a weird vision yesterday that had you and a Dustox in it," Sparky explains. "You threw something at him that set him on fire."

"Yes, a Blast Seed. Figured it'd chase him off, what with him being Bug-type and all." Banette sighs. "If I had known he'd be too cowardly to try and face me again, I would have held back. As for this 'vision'..." He shrugs, smiling again. "You'll learn what that was when the time comes. I imagine we all will."

"Maybe…" Ember relaxes her stance, albeit begrudgingly. "I still don't like being purposefully kept in the dark."

Banette nods. "I understand. But for now, what I know is not for your ears. When it is time for the two of you to learn the truth, I am certain you will learn it on your own." He reaches behind himself, withdrawing a Wonder Orb, which he lightly tosses up and down. "You will likely find Dustox somewhere up in the mountains to the south. However, by now he is likely far away. Attempting to go after him now would undoubtedly be suicide."

"Then what do you expect us to do?" Sparky asks, keeping an eye on the orb.

"For now? Wait." The Ghost-type grins. "If all goes according to plan, you'll have to go to the mountains sooner or later anyway. When that happens, just make a detour to the highest possible point. If you don't find him by then, come back and tell me, and I'll see if I can figure out where else he could have gone."

"Guess we sort of failed this mission, huh?" the Vulpix says, dejectedly.

"Don't worry about that. All exploration teams have their failures." Banette stops tossing the orb. "Just tell them I got away again. Considering how long I've been on the run, I think they'll believe that a new team wasn't able to succeed where expert teams have failed." He rolls the orb along the ground towards them like a bowling ball. "Here. This may help you, if and when you find him."

The fire fox catches it, inspecting it before picking it up. "A Sunny Orb… yeah, that'll help for sure. Especially in the cold mountain tops." She looks up. "Thanks."

Banette cackles as he starts floating backwards. "No, Team X. Thank _you._" He gets to the wall and pauses. "Feel free to rough Dustox up as much as you wish. But be sure to bring him back here alive. He still owes me..." Giggling quietly, the Ghost-type vanishes into the wall behind him, and all goes quiet.

Ember stares at the wall blankly. "Well… that was just all sorts of strange… and how did he know our team name?"

Sparky sighs. "With how much he knows and isn't telling us, a few facts like that aren't too out of the question." He rubs his temple. "Do we just go back now? Say he got away, like he told us? I'm still not too sure about how much I want to obey him."

"I know what you mean…" She sighs as well, sitting on the ground. "I guess there's not much else we can do about the mission itself. He _did_ get away. As for his little mission for us… well, Dustox seems to be a key to learning more about you, and a criminal, so it wouldn't hurt… right?"

"Right. Wouldn't hurt, and should help us find out more about my past, while bringing another criminal to justice." The Shinx pauses. "...assuming Banette's telling the truth."

"Hmm… good point…" Ember rubs her chin with a paw. "I guess… play it by ear?"

Sparky nods. "For now, at least. Until we have a better option, or it turns out he's telling the truth." He sits down beside her. "So...what are we gonna tell Chansey?"

The Vulpix's face goes slightly pale. "Umm, we went for a walk?" She laughs nervously.

"A walk in Skull Caves. Yeah, just like any other morning activity." He rolls his eyes, but chuckles. "We'll figure something out, I guess." He reaches for his badge. "Let's go home."

"Agreed." She touches her own badge and in twin beams of light, the two are whisked away.


End file.
